Association of ALKBH1 overexpression with metastasis, prognosis, and immunotherapy response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an aggressive form of cancer with high metastasis rates and poor prognosis. Therefore, identifying potential biomarkers to improve prognosis and develop effective treatment is essential. ALKBH1, a member of the AlkB family of dioxygenases, has recently arisen as a potential biomarker in several types of cancer; however, its role in HNSCC still remains unclear. In this study, we significantly analyzed ALKBH1 expression and its clinicopathological correlation, immune infiltration, and immune gene regulations from the Cancer Genome Atlas Head-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (TCGA-HNSC) dataset. The prognosis was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier plotter. We further confirmed ALKBH1 mRNA and protein expression levels by quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot. ALKBH1 was also assessed for its predictive value for treatment response in metastatic HNSCC using immunotherapy datasets. The results showed that ALKBH1 expression was significantly increased in HNSCC patients and correlated with advanced clinicopathological features, immune cell infiltration, and poor overall survival. Functional enrichment analysis identified pathways regulating cancer development and metastasis that are modulated by ALKBH1. Therefore, ALKBH1 can be considered a new biomarker for predicting metastasis and poor prognosis in HNSCC, suggesting that it may serve as a potential therapeutic target.