GPR34 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
GPR34, G protein-coupled receptor 34, is a cell-surface protein (GPCR). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, GPR34 staining is highest in thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive), melanoma (92% of samples positive) and bladder cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether GPR34 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is GPR34 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 thyroid 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.
GPR34 expression in cancer
Protein expression of GPR34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.50 | Medium | 92% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.33 | Medium | 83% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 82% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 83% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.23 | Medium | 60% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 58% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 58% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 58% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 42% |
Not detected by IHC in: breast cancer.
Is GPR34 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
Sources: PMID 41261421 · PMID 34086889 · PMID 29674500. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
GPR34 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for GPR34 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for GPR34 trials.
GPR34 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 GPR34 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
GPR34 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1253 cancer cell lines: 0.03 (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 thyroid cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · EPCAM · SSTR2 · EGFR · ITGAV · STEAP2 · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in thyroid cancer.
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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.