IL18R1 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
IL18R1, interleukin 18 receptor 1, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, IL18R1 staining is highest in colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and gastric cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether IL18R1 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality).
Is IL18R1 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, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
IL18R1 expression in cancer
Protein expression of IL18R1 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 | 0.97 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.91 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.88 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.88 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.76 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.61 | High | 91% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 91% |
Is IL18R1 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
IL18R1 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for IL18R1 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for IL18R1 trials.
IL18R1 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 IL18R1 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
IL18R1 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1248 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 colorectal cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · FAP · EGFR · CEA (CEACAM5) · EPCAM · SSTR2 · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in colorectal 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.