EPCAM as a Radioligand Therapy Target
EPCAM, epithelial cell adhesion molecule, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, EPCAM staining is highest in colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and endometrial cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality), with 1 active clinical trial.
Is EPCAM 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 colorectal cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ❔ Internalization: Not yet assessed.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
EPCAM expression in cancer
Protein expression of EPCAM 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorectal Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.97 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.50 | Medium | 75% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 73% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 50% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 50% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 33% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 40% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 30% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.07 | Low | 11% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.04 | Low | 11% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: lymphoma, melanoma, glioma, liver cancer.
Is EPCAM internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for EPCAM. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
EPCAM clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality). 1 active trial reference EPCAM (ClinicalTrials.gov, accessed 2026-06-29).
EPCAM 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 EPCAM in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
EPCAM gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1256 cancer cell lines: -0.14 (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 colorectal cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · FAP · EGFR · CEA (CEACAM5) · SSTR2 · STEAP2 · HER2 (ERBB2)
See all radioligand therapy targets in colorectal cancer.
See how EPCAM ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
Run a free analysisData 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.