SPOCK1 is a Prognostic-Related Biomarker and Correlated with Immune Infiltrates in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: To explore expression and immune infiltration of SPARC/osteonectin, cwcv, and maze -like domains proteoglycan 1 (SPOCK1) in Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: A total of 107 HNSC patients' tissues and 15 adjacent normal tissues were collected in this study. Co -expressed gene and gene set enrichment analysis was detected using STRING and Linked Omics. Immune cell infiltration related to SPOCK1 was analyzed via TIMER. Results: The positive rate of SPOCK1 in HNSC tissues were significantly higher than that in normal tissues by immunohisto-chemical staining (p < 0.01). The expression of SPOCK1 in HNSC was a positive correlation with the level of immune infiltrating cells. In addition, we discovered that SPOCK1 was major involved in inflammatory response pathways, cancer cell proliferation regulation, cell cycle regulation, apopto-sis, adhesion, cell-matrix interaction, etc. Conclusions: SPOCK1 plays a role in promoting cancer in HNSC, which was closely related to the malignant evolution of HNSC, and it was expected to become a prognostic molecular marker for HNSC patients and a potential target for immunotherapy.