Figure 6.

Identification of a prognostic signature for HNSCC patients. (A) Gene-expression profile for the patients who received mono radiotherapy. Genes were pre-selected by univariate Cox regression based on OS (P<0.005, n=66). Patients/samples are grouped into low-risk and high-risk sub-groups by unsupervised hierarchical clustering. Relative gene-expression levels are showed by heat map, with red for high expression and blue for low expression. The patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy were also classified as low-risk or high-risk sub-groups by the centroids of those who received mono radiotherapy. (B) Kaplan-Meier analysis of HNSCC patients in different groups. The left column indicates the survival difference of patients in low/high-risk groups in A. The middle and right column indicate survival benefit from concurrent chemoradiotherapy in the low-risk and high-risk subgroups respectively. The upper, middle and the bottom panels show OS, RFS and LRC, respectively. The P-value of each pair of Kaplan-Meier curves is calculated by log-rank test. HNSCC, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; OS, overall survival; RFS, relapse free survival; LRC, local regional control; Radi., radiotherapy; Radi.Chemo., concurrent chemoradiotherapy.