EPHB2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
EPHB2, EPH receptor B2, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, EPHB2 staining is highest in testicular cancer (100% of samples positive), colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive) and cervical cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether EPHB2 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is EPHB2 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 testicular cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ⚠️ Clinical precedent: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
EPHB2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of EPHB2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testicular Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.73 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.70 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.56 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.56 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.52 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.48 | Medium | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
Is EPHB2 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
Sources: PMID 35531068 · PMID 33815666 · PMID 31805710 · PMID 29949761 · PMID 28972287. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
EPHB2 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for EPHB2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for EPHB2 trials.
EPHB2 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 EPHB2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
EPHB2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1257 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 testicular cancer radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · STEAP2 · KIT · SSTR2 · TMEFF2 · Mesothelin (MSLN) · HER2 (ERBB2)
See all radioligand therapy targets in testicular cancer.
See how EPHB2 ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
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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.