PLA2G2A as a Radioligand Therapy Target
PLA2G2A, phospholipase A2 group IIA, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, PLA2G2A staining is highest in prostate cancer (83% of samples positive), testicular cancer (80% of samples positive) and melanoma (67% of samples positive). Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality).
Is PLA2G2A 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 prostate cancer, 83% of samples positive.
- ❔ Internalization: Not yet assessed.
- ✅ 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.
PLA2G2A expression in cancer
Protein expression of PLA2G2A 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prostate Cancer | 0.56 | High | 83% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.53 | High | 80% |
| Melanoma | 0.44 | Medium | 67% |
| Glioma | 0.39 | Medium | 73% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 73% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 67% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 50% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 58% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 58% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.25 | Medium | 50% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.21 | Medium | 36% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 25% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.18 | Low | 36% |
| Lymphoma | 0.14 | Low | 33% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 25% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 8% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: kidney cancer.
Is PLA2G2A internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for PLA2G2A. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
PLA2G2A clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for PLA2G2A yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for PLA2G2A trials.
PLA2G2A 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 PLA2G2A in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
PLA2G2A gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1246 cancer cell lines: 0.08 (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 prostate cancer radioligand targets
PSMA (FOLH1) · HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · EGFR · EPCAM · FAP · B7-H3 (CD276) · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in prostate cancer.
See how PLA2G2A 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.