Six-Gene Immune Signature for Head and Neck Cancer Prognosis

A six-gene prognostic signature stratifies head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients into high- and low-risk groups. Pian Li published the model, derived from integrated TCGA and GEO transcriptomic and clinical data, in April 2026. The 9.1 KB Excel file contains the gene signature and associated risk stratification results.

Use Cases

• Predict patient survival risk using the six-gene signature (PYGL, SFRP1, FGD3, OLR1, DUSP9, MASP1).
• Classify tumors as immune-hot or immune-cold subtypes based on the associated immune-related gene expression profiles.
• Correlate the signature's risk score with tumor mutation burden and predicted response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.
• Investigate the role of specific signature genes, like PYGL, in tumor proliferation and migration pathways.

Strengths

• Signature validated across four independent cohorts (TCGA and GEO).
• Model links gene expression to concrete clinical outcomes like survival and immunotherapy response.

Limitations

• Dataset is very small (9.1 KB), containing only the model's signature and results, not the underlying raw transcriptomic data.
• Clinical applicability is limited to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
• The specific number of patient records used to derive the signature is not provided.

Provenance

Source

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohorts.

Collection Method

Integrated transcriptomic and clinical data analysis using Cox and LASSO regression.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.