CSF1R: IHC Expression in Cancer and Radioligand Target Profile
CSF1R, colony stimulating factor 1 receptor, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, CSF1R staining is highest in thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive), ovarian cancer (100% of samples positive) and gastric cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether CSF1R internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: FDA-approved drug (any modality).
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Analyze CSF1R freeIs CSF1R a good radioligand therapy target?
Scored against the six criteria that decide whether a protein can become a radioligand therapy:
- ✅ Cell-surface accessibility: Localized to the cell surface, so a radioligand can reach it from circulation.
- ✅ Tumor expression: High IHC staining in thyroid cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: FDA-approved drug (any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
CSF1R IHC staining by cancer type
Protein expression of CSF1R across 20 cancer types from Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry. The score is a weighted staining intensity from 0 to 1; "% positive" is the share of patient samples with detectable staining.
| Cancer type | IHC score | Level | % positive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.59 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 75% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.41 | Medium | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 82% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.33 | Medium | 92% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 91% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 91% |
| Glioma | 0.31 | Medium | 92% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 91% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.25 | Medium | 75% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 67% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.15 | Low | 36% |
Is CSF1R internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
Sources: PMID 40595560 · PMID 38414848 · PMID 38170572 · PMID 36197652 · PMID 35713703. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
CSF1R clinical trials
FDA-approved drug (any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for CSF1R yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for CSF1R trials.
CSF1R normal tissue expression
Normal-tissue expression in dose-limiting organs (kidney, liver, bone marrow, salivary glands) drives radioligand dosimetry risk. Nuclens is re-validating its normal-tissue values, so they are not shown here yet. See CSF1R in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
CSF1R gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1256 cancer cell lines: -0.01 (not essential). Radioligands kill by radiation, not by blocking the target, so essentiality matters less than for inhibitors. A non-essential target can still be an excellent radioligand target.
Related thyroid cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · SSTR2 · EPCAM · EGFR · ITGAV · STEAP2 · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in thyroid cancer.
See how CSF1R ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
Analyze CSF1R freeData sources
Subcellular localization: UniProt via Open Targets (CC BY 4.0 / CC0). Tumor immunohistochemistry: Human Protein Atlas (CC BY-SA 4.0). Clinical trials: ClinicalTrials.gov (public domain). Gene essentiality: DepMap (CC BY 4.0). Internalization and shedding: AI-extracted from PubMed abstracts, so verify against the cited papers before relying on them. Nuclens is a first-pass triage layer, not a substitute for wet-lab validation or clinical dosimetry. Derived expression data on this page is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.