MFGE8 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
MFGE8, milk fat globule EGF and factor V/VIII domain containing, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, MFGE8 staining is highest in ovarian cancer (100% of samples positive), breast cancer (100% of samples positive) and cervical cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is MFGE8 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 ovarian cancer, 100% 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.
MFGE8 expression in cancer
Protein expression of MFGE8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ovarian Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.93 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.64 | High | 91% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.56 | High | 67% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 60% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 50% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 92% |
| Glioma | 0.36 | Medium | 46% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 44% |
| Melanoma | 0.15 | Low | 46% |
| Lymphoma | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Is MFGE8 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for MFGE8. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
MFGE8 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for MFGE8 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for MFGE8 trials.
MFGE8 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 MFGE8 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
MFGE8 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: 0.07 (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 ovarian cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · Mesothelin (MSLN) · EPCAM · STEAP2 · FAP · ITGAV · EGFR
See all radioligand therapy targets in ovarian cancer.
See how MFGE8 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.