FADS2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
FADS2, fatty acid desaturase 2, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, FADS2 staining is highest in cervical cancer (100% of samples positive), bladder cancer (92% of samples positive) and liver cancer (83% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is FADS2 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 cervical cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ❔ Internalization: Not yet assessed.
- ⚠️ 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.
FADS2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of FADS2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cervical Cancer | 0.55 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 92% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 83% |
| Glioma | 0.48 | Medium | 91% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 91% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 92% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 83% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 75% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.33 | Medium | 50% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 67% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 50% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 67% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 75% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 58% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 50% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.09 | Low | 18% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.08 | Low | 25% |
| Lymphoma | 0.03 | Low | 9% |
Not detected by IHC in: melanoma, testicular cancer.
Is FADS2 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for FADS2. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
FADS2 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for FADS2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for FADS2 trials.
FADS2 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 FADS2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
FADS2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.08 (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 cervical cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · EGFR · HER3 (ERBB3) · CEA (CEACAM5) · SSTR2 · Mesothelin (MSLN) · ITGB6 · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in cervical cancer.
See how FADS2 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.