Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a highly aggressive relatively common cancer that poses a serious threat to patient health, leading to significant economic burdens on healthcare systems. This study was designed to investigate the expression levels of disulphidptosis-related genes (DRGs) in OSCC and assess their potential as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis. We used in-depth bioinformatics analysis of RNA sequencing data from the public databases, as well as functional enrichment analysis, survival analysis, immune cell infiltration levels and single cell analysis, to assess DRG expression in OSCC samples. Fifteen highly elevated DRGs, including inverted formin 2 (INF2) and destrin (DSTN), were investigated, and their expression in OSCC samples was validated by real-time PCR. The expression of these 15 DRGs correlated with patient survival rates and immune cell infiltration patterns. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these genes are engaged in the regulation of essential biological processes, including the cytoskeleton and focal adhesion, indicating their importance in tumour development and tumour microenvironment interactions. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the area under the curve for these DRGs ranged between 0.651 and 0.932, indicating their potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The mRNA expressions of INF2 and DSTN were increased in OSCC samples. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis emphasised the predominant expression of DRGs in cancer cells. INF2 and DSTN could serve as valuable biomarkers for the early detection and prognosis of OSCC, potentially impacting future therapeutic strategies. However, further research, including laboratory validation and clinical trials, is essential to explore the therapeutic targeting of INF2 and DSTN and their effects on the immune microenvironment in OSCC. INF2 and DSTN have been shown to be independent predictors of overall survival and progression-free survival in OSCC patients. Integrating tumour node metastasis staging with these DRG features could significantly improve the accuracy of prognosis prediction. This will help clinicians to more accurately assess the risk of recurrence and death in patients, and to guide more individualised plans for postoperative follow-up intensity and frequency.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is characterized by high aggressiveness and mortality, posing major challenges for patients and health care systems. Current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches-including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy-are often hindered by late diagnosis and poor prognosis. Therefore, identifying novel biomarkers is urgently needed to enhance early detection and inform treatment decisions. This study evaluated the role of synaptophysin-like 1 (SYPL1) as a potential biomarker in OSCC using RNA sequencing data obtained from the UCSC XENA database and the Gene Expression Omnibus. Cox proportional hazards regression and Spearman correlation analyses were employed to evaluate the association between SYPL1 expression and clinical outcomes. Furthermore, SYPL1 expression levels in OSCC samples were confirmed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. SYPL1 was significantly upregulated in OSCC tissues, with an area under the curve of 0.654 for discriminating tumour from normal tissues. High SYPL1 expression correlated with poor prognosis, particularly in T3 and N0 stage patients. Immune infiltration analysis indicated a significant negative correlation between SYPL1 levels and cytotoxic and dendritic cells, suggesting a role in tumour immune modulation. The messenger RNA expressions of SYPL1 are increased in OSCC samples. SYPL1 demonstrates significant value as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in OSCC. A nomogram incorporating SYPL1 expression with clinical factors shows robust predictive performance for 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival probabilities. While these findings suggest a potential role in OSCC pathogenesis, the specific functional mechanisms of SYPL1-including its possible involvement in immune modulation or tumour progression-require further experimental validation to establish causal relationships. SYPL1 is significantly upregulated in OSCC tissues and shows potential as a diagnostic biomarker for distinguishing tumours from normal samples, particularly in early detection. Elevated SYPL1 expression is associated with poor prognosis in patients with OSCC, especially in T3 and N0 stages, suggesting that it could complement the TNM staging system for improved risk stratification. Mechanistically, the negative correlation between SYPL1 expression and infiltrating cytotoxic and dendritic cells implies a possible role in immune modulation, but this requires functional validation. Future studies should focus on elucidating the functional mechanisms of SYPL1 to assess its therapeutic relevance.