TSHR as a Radioligand Therapy Target
TSHR, thyroid stimulating hormone receptor, is a cell-surface protein (GPCR). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, TSHR staining is highest in liver cancer (91% of samples positive), gastric cancer (88% of samples positive) and ovarian cancer (60% of samples positive). Evidence on whether TSHR internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is TSHR 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: Medium IHC staining in liver cancer, 91% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ⚠️ 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.
TSHR expression in cancer
Protein expression of TSHR 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liver Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 91% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 88% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 60% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 75% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 58% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 58% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 58% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.15 | Low | 36% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 42% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 33% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.12 | Low | 36% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Melanoma | 0.09 | Low | 27% |
| Lymphoma | 0.08 | Low | 25% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 10% |
| Glioma | 0.03 | Low | 10% |
Not detected by IHC in: prostate cancer.
Is TSHR internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
Sources: PMID 42374926 · PMID 42218985 · PMID 38650837 · PMID 36898184 · PMID 34896620. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
TSHR clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for TSHR yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for TSHR trials.
TSHR 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 TSHR in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
TSHR gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1243 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 liver cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · SSTR2 · STEAP2 · HER2 (ERBB2) · Mesothelin (MSLN) · B7-H3 (CD276)
See all radioligand therapy targets in liver cancer.
See how TSHR 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.