Fig. 1

Mitochondrial associated pan-cell death genes (MAPGs) may be involved in the pathogenesis of OSCC, with unique prognosis and management strategies. Based on 19 key MAPGs, we constructed relevant prognostic features to evaluate their prognostic value for OSCC patients. Among these, INHBA, identified as the most critical MAPG, was selected through nine machine learning algorithms and validated clinically. Notably, OSCC patients with high INHBA expression exhibited poor prognosis. Single-cell and spatial transcriptome analyses revealed that INHBA was predominantly distributed in fibroblasts and may promote the progression of OSCC and influence prognosis by regulating the tumor microenvironment. CAR-T immunotherapy may improve a new therapeutic strategy for OSCC patients with high INHBA expression. Drug sensitivity analyses and molecular docking further demonstrated that selumetinib and naltrexone, by targeting INHBA, could potentially improve OSCC prognosis. Pan-cancer analysis underscored the universal therapeutic significance of targeting INHBA across multiple malignancies.