TNFRSF12A as a Radioligand Therapy Target
TNFRSF12A, TNF receptor superfamily member 12A, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, TNFRSF12A staining is highest in melanoma (100% of samples positive), testicular cancer (100% of samples positive) and skin cancer (92% of samples positive). Evidence on whether TNFRSF12A internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 1, any modality).
Is TNFRSF12A 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 melanoma, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 1, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
TNFRSF12A expression in cancer
Protein expression of TNFRSF12A 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melanoma | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.83 | High | 92% |
| Glioma | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.79 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.56 | High | 92% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 92% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 58% |
| Lymphoma | 0.28 | Medium | 75% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 50% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.15 | Low | 46% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.12 | Low | 36% |
Is TNFRSF12A internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
TNFRSF12A clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 1, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for TNFRSF12A yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for TNFRSF12A trials.
TNFRSF12A 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 TNFRSF12A in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
TNFRSF12A gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.17 (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 melanoma radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · STEAP2 · SSTR2 · B7-H3 (CD276) · ITGAV · TMEFF2 · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in melanoma.
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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.