KCNQ1 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
KCNQ1, potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily Q member 1, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, KCNQ1 staining is highest in colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and ovarian cancer (58% of samples positive). Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality).
Is KCNQ1 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: Not yet assessed.
- ✅ 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.
KCNQ1 expression in cancer
Protein expression of KCNQ1 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 | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 58% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 64% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 58% |
| Melanoma | 0.25 | Medium | 42% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 50% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 42% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.22 | Medium | 33% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 40% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 42% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 25% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.09 | Low | 18% |
| Glioma | 0.04 | Low | 13% |
| Lymphoma | 0.03 | Low | 9% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: skin cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer.
Is KCNQ1 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for KCNQ1. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
KCNQ1 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for KCNQ1 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for KCNQ1 trials.
KCNQ1 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 KCNQ1 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
KCNQ1 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1253 cancer cell lines: 0.02 (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.
See how KCNQ1 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.