A prognostic model was constructed to compute the hazard score for each HNSCC patient in TCGA dataset using the following equation: risk score = [(0.5019 × ATG5 expression) + (−0.2152 × MAP3K5 expression) + (−0.2619 × SOCS1 expression) + (0.2577 × OTUB1 expression) + (0.1684 × FTH1 expression) + (0.2121 × PRDX6 expression)]. Here, OTUB1 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.