FGFR4 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
FGFR4, fibroblast growth factor receptor 4, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, FGFR4 staining is highest in colorectal cancer (91% of samples positive), pancreatic cancer (91% of samples positive) and liver cancer (73% of samples positive). Published literature reports that FGFR4 internalizes after ligand binding, which helps retain a radionuclide inside tumor cells. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality).
Is FGFR4 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, 91% of samples positive.
- ✅ Internalization: Reported to internalize, which favors radionuclide retention.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
FGFR4 expression in cancer
Protein expression of FGFR4 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 | 0.55 | High | 91% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 91% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 73% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 50% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 58% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.20 | Medium | 60% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.18 | Low | 36% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.12 | Low | 36% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.08 | Low | 25% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.08 | Low | 17% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 17% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 10% |
| Glioma | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: skin cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, neuroendocrine tumors, prostate cancer, testicular cancer.
Is FGFR4 internalized?
Yes. The study identified that FGFR4 exhibiting robust binding and endocytosis activities within HCC cells.
Sources: PMID 41210985 · PMID 40487106 · PMID 38307837 · PMID 33794926 · PMID 27615514. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
FGFR4 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for FGFR4 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for FGFR4 trials.
FGFR4 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 FGFR4 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
FGFR4 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 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 colorectal cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · FAP · EGFR · CEA (CEACAM5) · EPCAM · SSTR2 · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in colorectal cancer.
See how FGFR4 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.