FZD5 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
FZD5, frizzled class receptor 5, is a cell-surface protein (GPCR). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, FZD5 staining is highest in liver cancer (67% of samples positive), prostate cancer (64% of samples positive) and endometrial cancer (40% of samples positive). Evidence on whether FZD5 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 1, any modality).
Is FZD5 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: Medium IHC staining in liver cancer, 67% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 1, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
FZD5 expression in cancer
Protein expression of FZD5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liver Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 67% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.24 | Medium | 64% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.20 | Medium | 40% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 33% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.15 | Low | 46% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 33% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 22% |
| Melanoma | 0.10 | Low | 30% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.09 | Low | 18% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
| Lymphoma | 0.06 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: skin cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, glioma.
Is FZD5 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
FZD5 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 1, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for FZD5 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for FZD5 trials.
FZD5 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 FZD5 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
FZD5 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.13 (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 liver cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · SSTR2 · STEAP2 · HER2 (ERBB2) · Mesothelin (MSLN) · B7-H3 (CD276)
See all radioligand therapy targets in liver cancer.
See how FZD5 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.