IGF1R as a Radioligand Therapy Target
IGF1R, insulin like growth factor 1 receptor, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, IGF1R staining is highest in endometrial cancer (100% of samples positive), colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive) and ovarian cancer (100% of samples positive). Published literature reports that IGF1R internalizes after ligand binding, which helps retain a radionuclide inside tumor cells. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality).
Is IGF1R 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 endometrial cancer, 100% 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.
IGF1R expression in cancer
Protein expression of IGF1R 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.91 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.90 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.86 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.86 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.85 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.85 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.73 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.73 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 82% |
Is IGF1R internalized?
Yes. Inhibition of endocytosis markedly reduced enhancement of TSHR and IGF-1R expression, indicating that internalization is involved in the receptor dynamics.
Sources: PMID 42374926 · PMID 42244949 · PMID 42191025 · PMID 42033345 · PMID 41716020. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
IGF1R clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for IGF1R yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for IGF1R trials.
IGF1R 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 IGF1R in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
IGF1R gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.26 (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 endometrial cancer radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · EGFR · EPCAM · B7-H3 (CD276) · SSTR2 · ITGAV · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in endometrial cancer.
See how IGF1R 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.