Abstract
BACKGROUND: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) prognosis has not improved significantly in the past few decades, and more effective treatments are needed to be explored. Ferroptosis is a newly discovered kind of regulated cell death in recent years, which is related to tumor immunity and can used to treat tumors. Therefore, the prognostic value of ferroptosis-related genes in laryngeal cancer needs further clarification. METHODS: In this study, the mRNA expression profile data of LSCC were downloaded from the public database. After identifying ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (FDGs), we explored the role of these genes through functional enrichment analysis. FDGs with prognostic significance were identified by univariate Cox and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses. By calculating the risk score, we constructed a prognostic model. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and the nomogram were utilized to investigate this model. Public databases and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were performed to verify the expression of model genes. RESULTS: The model consisting of four FDGs was acknowledged to be a self-determining predictor of prognosis. The K-M survival curves and the ROC curves confirmed the model's predictive ability. The C index (0.805) indicates that the nomogram has a good predictive ability. In vitro studies have confirmed the differential expression of the four FDGs. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a novel ferroptosis-related gene signature for predicting prognosis in LSCC.