A 8-gene-methylation-based Signature for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Prognosis
Abstract Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), accounting for 6% of systemic malignant tumors, has an increasing incidence rate year by year worldwide. A large number of studies have investigated the tumor markers to determine clinical stage, prognosis, treatment evaluation, predict relapses, and overall survival of HNSCC patients, with controversial results. Methods In this paper, we comprehensively analyzed gene expression and DNA methylation data sets of HNSCC and adjacent non-tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Univariate cox regression analysis followed by sure independence screening (SIS) were used for identifying differential methylation signatures to stratify patients with significantly different prognosis. Results We identified methylation levels of HS3ST1,TOMM34,RPL26L1,MTHFD2,ORC1,MYOSLID,UHRF1 and AL357033.3 as potential HNSCC prognosis signatures, and verified the correlation between their gene expression and the corresponding methylation. Their reliability for predicting the prognosis of HNSCC was confirmed in an independent dataset. Conclusions In conclusion, we built a 8-gene-methylation-based signature which can well assess the prognosis of HNSCC patients.