Abstract: Objective To screen key immune-related genes (IRGs) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSSC) and construct an immune-related prognostic model to predict the overall survival of patients with OSCC, so as to provide a basis for the planning of clinical treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Firstly, the OSCC gene expression data and corresponding clinical information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Then the differentially expressed IRGs was determined. The immune-related prognostic model was established by univariate Cox regression analysis, Lasso-Cox regression analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis, and the predictive performance of the model was verified. Results In this study, a prognostic model consisting of 6 IRGs was constructed. There was significant difference in total survival rate between low risk group and high risk group (P<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of the 1-, 3- and 5-year receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves were 0.72, 0.73, 0.76 respectively, which indicated that the prognostic model had a good predictive effect. Subsequent univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the risk score of the prognostic model was an independent prognostic factor (P<0.001). Conclusion In this study, 6 IRGs-based prognostic model is established to accurately predict the prognosis of patients with OSCC. This finding is helpful for clinicians to individualize treatment of patients with OSCC, and then improve the survival rate of these patients.

Key words: immune-related gene, prognostic model, nomogram, oral squamous cell carcinoma