A 13-gene signature prognostic of HPV-negative OSCC: discovery and external validation

OSCC is associated with substantial mortality and morbidity. In this study, we built on our previous molecular work to identify and validate a prognostic 13-gene signature that showed a higher ability than tumor stage in predicting survival for patients with HPV-negative oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We previously reported 131 genes to be associated with survival in OSCC patients. In this study, we applied L1/L2-penalized Cox regression models to the Affymetrix array data from 97 HPV-negative OSCC patients on the 131 gene to identify a model for prediction of OSCC-specific survival. We then tested the model in an independent dataset and compared to tumor stage.