SLC6A9 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
SLC6A9, solute carrier family 6 member 9, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, SLC6A9 staining is highest in head and neck cancer (100% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality).
Is SLC6A9 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: 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.
SLC6A9 expression in cancer
Protein expression of SLC6A9 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 | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.58 | High | 75% |
| Melanoma | 0.54 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 92% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 83% |
| Glioma | 0.33 | Medium | 55% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 67% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 50% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 50% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.27 | Medium | 46% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 58% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 33% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.21 | Medium | 46% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.20 | Medium | 40% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 25% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.13 | Low | 40% |
| Lymphoma | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 25% |
Is SLC6A9 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for SLC6A9. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
SLC6A9 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for SLC6A9 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for SLC6A9 trials.
SLC6A9 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 SLC6A9 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
SLC6A9 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.11 (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 SLC6A9 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.