SLC22A3 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
SLC22A3, solute carrier family 22 member 3, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, SLC22A3 staining is highest in head and neck cancer (100% of samples positive), bladder cancer (100% of samples positive) and pancreatic cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is SLC22A3 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 head and neck 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.
SLC22A3 expression in cancer
Protein expression of SLC22A3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head and Neck Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.91 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.79 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.76 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
Is SLC22A3 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for SLC22A3. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
SLC22A3 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for SLC22A3 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for SLC22A3 trials.
SLC22A3 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 SLC22A3 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
SLC22A3 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1247 cancer cell lines: 0.06 (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 head and neck cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · ITGAV · SSTR2 · B7-H3 (CD276) · STEAP2 · Mesothelin (MSLN)
See all radioligand therapy targets in head and neck cancer.
See how SLC22A3 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.