Fig. 1: PHKG2 expression correlates with prognosis in HNSCC patients.

The expression profiles of ferroptosis-related genes, including PHKG2, were identified in HNSCC tissues from the TCGA dataset (A). Eleven key genes were selected via LASSO regression analysis to establish a prognostic risk model (B). Univariate Cox regression analysis showing correlations between risk factors (including age, gender, clinical stage, and TNM staging) and patient prognosis (C). ROC curves evaluating the predictive ability of the risk model for 5-year patient survival (D). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrating significantly poorer overall survival (OS) in the high-risk group compared to the low-risk group (**p < 0.01) (E). Kaplan–Meier curves highlighting that high PHKG2 expression (HR = 0.404, *p < 0.05) is associated with better prognosis, whereas high FTH1 expression (HR = 1.856, *p < 0.05) indicates poorer outcomes (F). Representative immunohistochemical (IHC) staining images illustrate moderate-to-high PHKG2 expression in HNSCC tissues compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues (***p < 0.001) (G). Representative IHC staining demonstrating an inverse correlation between PHKG2 expression and the expression levels of NRF2 (nuclear) and GPX4 proteins in HNSCC tissues (H). Kaplan–Meier survival curves depicting the association of PHKG2, NRF2, and GPX4 expression levels with patient prognosis (I). Correlation analyses demonstrating inverse relationships between PHKG2 expression and the ferroptosis-related proteins NRF2 and GPX4 (J).