The PFLS consisted of six FElncRNAs, including two risk factors: HOXB-AS3 and SFTA1P, and four protective factors: SLCO4A1-AS1, C1RL-AS1, PCED1B-AS1, and MIR9-3HG, which showed correlations with the HNSCC tumor samples’ overall survival (OS) probability (Supplementary Figure S3). Here, C1RL is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.