Using univariate, LASSO, and multivariate cox regression analyses, we developed a prognostic risk model for HNSCC based on 13 genes associated with inflammatory factors (ITGA5, OLR1, CCL5, CXCL8, IL1A, SLC7A2, SCN1B, RGS16, TNFRSF9, PDE4B, NPFFR2, OSM, ROS1).The results were consistent with those of previous studies showing that CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CXCL8, and CXCL12 can be used as prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for patients with HNSCC (Jiang et al., 2020). Here, CXCL8 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.