HSD17B6 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
HSD17B6, hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 6, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, HSD17B6 staining is highest in liver cancer (75% of samples positive), prostate cancer (90% of samples positive) and testicular cancer (91% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is HSD17B6 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 liver cancer, 75% 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.
HSD17B6 expression in cancer
Protein expression of HSD17B6 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 | 0.64 | High | 75% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.53 | High | 90% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 91% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 73% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 82% |
| Melanoma | 0.39 | Medium | 83% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 83% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 90% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.27 | Medium | 64% |
| Glioma | 0.27 | Medium | 70% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 75% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 67% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.21 | Medium | 64% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 42% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Lymphoma | 0.08 | Low | 17% |
Is HSD17B6 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for HSD17B6. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
HSD17B6 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for HSD17B6 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for HSD17B6 trials.
HSD17B6 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 HSD17B6 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
HSD17B6 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.00 (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 HSD17B6 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.