{"entity":{"id":"psma","kind":"target","name":"PSMA","aka":[],"tldr":"A protein on prostate cancer cells that lets doctors both see the cancer on a PET scan and hit it with a radioactive drug.","summary":"Prostate-specific membrane antigen is the archetypal theranostic target. PSMA PET (Pylarify, Illuccix, Locametz, Pylarify TruVu) is standard for staging; 177Lu-PSMA-617 (Pluvicto) is approved before and after chemotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Alpha-emitting 225Ac-PSMA agents and PSMA-targeted bispecifics and CAR-T are in trials.","asOf":"2026-09-04","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate_carboxypeptidase_II","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate_carboxypeptidase_II"}],"tags":["theranostic","pet-target"],"related":["psma-pet-expression"],"cancers":["prostate","prostate-mcrpc"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["aaa817","jnj-87189401","hrs-4357","fpi-2265","ino-5401"],"companies":["artbio","convergent-therapeutics","janux-therapeutics","point-biopharma","xilio-therapeutics"],"institutions":[],"pathways":["prostate-cancer-signalling"],"terms":["theranostics"],"trials":["nct07567521","nct06383052","nct05381103","nct06906471","nct07258407"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-silver-psma-expression-normal-malignant-tissues-ccr-1997","paper-therap-lancet-2021","paper-fendler-psma-pet-biochemical-recurrence-jama-oncol-2019"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Prostate cancer: the only prostate biomarker read by a scanner rather than a sequencer. Expression is largely restricted to prostatic epithelium, duodenal mucosa, some proximal renal tubules and colonic neuroendocrine cells among normal tissues, and it falls as tumours dedifferentiate, which is the biology behind PSMA-negative lesions and the salivary, lacrimal and renal uptake that limits dosing (Silver 1997)."],"symbol":"FOLH1","role":[],"sources":[],"specificity":"tumour-associated","distribution":"few-types","specificityNote":"Tumour-associated overexpression or amplification: 1 of 1 label readouts filed under it score protein level or gene copies (PSMA expression by PET (PSMA-positive)), so the medicines rely on the tumour carrying more of it than normal tissue. HPA FOLH1: RNA tissue enhanced (intestine 251 nTPM, prostate 71 nTPM); high antibody staining in 4 normal tissues; highest cancer staining prostate cancer (7 of 7 high). Distribution: 2 cancer families in the corpus carry a prevalence row, label threshold or catalogue link for it (Prostate cancer, Renal cell carcinoma); Open Targets associates it with 1 specific cancer type at or above 0.5 (prostate cancer). (Rule 3 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"PSMA expression by PET (PSMA-positive) label threshold","url":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=14908037-2892-4d98-a053-253ce35afb1a","note":"PSMA-positive by PSMA PET"},{"label":"Human Protein Atlas FOLH1 tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000086205-FOLH1/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Human Protein Atlas FOLH1 pathology","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000086205-FOLH1/pathology","note":"patients per staining level per cancer type (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000086205 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000086205/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:3788","ensembl":"ENSG00000086205","uniprot":"Q04609","entrez":"2346","firstDescribed":1993,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Israeli R.S. et al, Cancer Res, 1993, \"Molecular cloning of a complementary DNA encoding a prostate-specific membrane antigen\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8417812/","biology":"PSMA is a type II transmembrane glutamate carboxypeptidase; expression increases with grade and castration resistance. Also expressed in tumour neovasculature of other cancers.","whereFound":["Prostate cancer (>90%)","Neovasculature of RCC, glioma, others","Prostate cancer: cell-surface protein expression, read by pet rather than by sequencing 80-95% depending on disease state"],"targetClass":"surface-antigen","prevalence":[{"cancerId":"prostate","pct":">90","measure":"PSMA PET positivity, metastatic disease","source":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12796145/","note":"~10% PSMA-negative or low"},{"cancerId":"rcc","pct":"60-80","measure":"Neovascular PSMA expression","source":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12796145/","note":"Clear-cell; imaging studies"},{"cancerId":"prostate","pct":"80-95","measure":"Cell-surface protein expression, read by PET rather than by sequencing","source":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9815541/","note":"Immunohistochemistry across a panel of normal and malignant tissues found PSMA in 33 of 35 primary prostate adenocarcinomas, 7 of 8 lymph node metastases and 8 of 18 bone metastases, with detectable expression among normal tissues confined to prostatic epithelium, duodenal mucosa, a subset of proximal renal tubules and a subpopulation of neuroendocrine cells in colonic crypts; all other normal tissues, including cerebral cortex and cerebellum, were undetectable (Silver 1997). In practice the PET equivalent of that figure is the screening yield: 200 of 291 men screened for TheraP were eligible on imaging, 69%, with PSMA-low disease or FDG-positive PSMA-negative sites the reason for exclusion (Hofman 2021)."}]},"route":"/targets/psma/","neighbours":{"biomarker":[{"id":"psma-pet-expression","kind":"biomarker","name":"PSMA expression by PET (PSMA-positive)","route":"/biomarkers/psma-pet-expression/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"prostate-mcrpc","kind":"cancer","name":"Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer","route":"/cancers/prostate-mcrpc/"},{"id":"prostate","kind":"cancer","name":"Prostate cancer","route":"/cancers/prostate/"}],"drug":[{"id":"lu177-psma-it","kind":"drug","name":"177Lu-PSMA-I&T","route":"/drugs/lu177-psma-it/"},{"id":"aaa817","kind":"drug","name":"AAA817","route":"/drugs/aaa817/"},{"id":"ac225-psma","kind":"drug","name":"Actinium-225 PSMA agents","route":"/drugs/ac225-psma/"},{"id":"florastamin-f18","kind":"drug","name":"Florastamin F-18","route":"/drugs/florastamin-f18/"},{"id":"flotufolastat","kind":"drug","name":"Flotufolastat F-18","route":"/drugs/flotufolastat/"},{"id":"fpi-2265","kind":"drug","name":"FPI-2265","route":"/drugs/fpi-2265/"},{"id":"ga68-psma-11","kind":"drug","name":"Gallium-68 gozetotide (PSMA-11)","route":"/drugs/ga68-psma-11/"},{"id":"hrs-4357","kind":"drug","name":"HRS-4357","route":"/drugs/hrs-4357/"},{"id":"illuccix","kind":"drug","name":"Illuccix (kit for Ga-68 gozetotide)","route":"/drugs/illuccix/"},{"id":"ino-5401","kind":"drug","name":"INO-5401","route":"/drugs/ino-5401/"},{"id":"jnj-87189401","kind":"drug","name":"JNJ-87189401","route":"/drugs/jnj-87189401/"},{"id":"locametz","kind":"drug","name":"Locametz (kit for Ga-68 gozetotide)","route":"/drugs/locametz/"},{"id":"pluvicto","kind":"drug","name":"Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan","route":"/drugs/pluvicto/"},{"id":"pylarify","kind":"drug","name":"Piflufolastat F-18 / Pylarify TruVu","route":"/drugs/pylarify/"},{"id":"psma-1007-f18","kind":"drug","name":"PSMA-1007 F-18","route":"/drugs/psma-1007-f18/"}],"company":[{"id":"arsenal-bio","kind":"company","name":"Arsenal Biosciences","route":"/companies/arsenal-bio/"},{"id":"artbio","kind":"company","name":"ARTBIO","route":"/companies/artbio/"},{"id":"clarity-pharmaceuticals","kind":"company","name":"Clarity Pharmaceuticals","route":"/companies/clarity-pharmaceuticals/"},{"id":"convergent-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Convergent Therapeutics","route":"/companies/convergent-therapeutics/"},{"id":"janux-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Janux Therapeutics","route":"/companies/janux-therapeutics/"},{"id":"perspective-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Perspective Therapeutics","route":"/companies/perspective-therapeutics/"},{"id":"point-biopharma","kind":"company","name":"POINT Biopharma","route":"/companies/point-biopharma/"},{"id":"telix","kind":"company","name":"Telix Pharmaceuticals","route":"/companies/telix/"},{"id":"xilio-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Xilio Therapeutics","route":"/companies/xilio-therapeutics/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"ar-signaling","kind":"pathway","name":"Androgen receptor signalling","route":"/pathways/ar-signaling/"},{"id":"lineage-plasticity-neuroendocrine","kind":"pathway","name":"Lineage plasticity & neuroendocrine transformation","route":"/pathways/lineage-plasticity-neuroendocrine/"},{"id":"organ-tropism-seed-soil","kind":"pathway","name":"Organ tropism: seed and soil","route":"/pathways/organ-tropism-seed-soil/"},{"id":"prostate-cancer-signalling","kind":"pathway","name":"Prostate cancer (KEGG map)","route":"/pathways/prostate-cancer-signalling/"}],"term":[{"id":"antigen","kind":"term","name":"Antigen","route":"/terms/antigen/"},{"id":"ligand","kind":"term","name":"Ligand","route":"/terms/ligand/"},{"id":"theranostics","kind":"term","name":"Theranostics","route":"/terms/theranostics/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct07258407","kind":"trial","name":"A Clinical Trial Evaluating the Safety of TD001 In Patients With PSMA-Expressing Metastatic Prostate Cancer","route":"/trials/nct07258407/"},{"id":"nct06383052","kind":"trial","name":"A Phase 1/2 Study of 177Lu-NYM032 Injection in mCRPC","route":"/trials/nct06383052/"},{"id":"nct06906471","kind":"trial","name":"A Single-Arm, Blinded, Fluorescent PSMA Histopathology Trial of AS1986NS","route":"/trials/nct06906471/"},{"id":"nct07567521","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of TRC003 in the Treatment of Patients With Progressive PSMA-positive mCRPC","route":"/trials/nct07567521/"},{"id":"nct05381103","kind":"trial","name":"PSMA-PET to Guide Prostatectomy","route":"/trials/nct05381103/"},{"id":"psma-prerp","kind":"trial","name":"PSMA-PreRP","route":"/trials/psma-prerp/"},{"id":"vision","kind":"trial","name":"VISION","route":"/trials/vision/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-therap-lancet-2021","kind":"paper","name":"[ 177 Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 versus cabazitaxel in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (TheraP): a randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-therap-lancet-2021/"},{"id":"paper-fendler-psma-pet-biochemical-recurrence-jama-oncol-2019","kind":"paper","name":"Accuracy of gallium-68 PSMA-11 PET in localising recurrent prostate cancer: a prospective single-arm clinical trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-fendler-psma-pet-biochemical-recurrence-jama-oncol-2019/"},{"id":"paper-psma-prerp-hope-jama-oncol-2021","kind":"paper","name":"Diagnostic accuracy of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET for pelvic nodal metastasis detection prior to radical prostatectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection: a multicenter prospective phase 3 imaging trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-psma-prerp-hope-jama-oncol-2021/"},{"id":"paper-propsma-hofman-lancet-2020","kind":"paper","name":"proPSMA: PSMA PET-CT versus conventional imaging for staging high-risk prostate cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-propsma-hofman-lancet-2020/"},{"id":"paper-silver-psma-expression-normal-malignant-tissues-ccr-1997","kind":"paper","name":"Prostate-specific membrane antigen expression in normal and malignant human tissues","route":"/key-papers/paper-silver-psma-expression-normal-malignant-tissues-ccr-1997/"},{"id":"paper-vision-nejm-2021","kind":"paper","name":"VISION: lutetium-177 PSMA-617 radioligand therapy extends survival in advanced prostate cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-vision-nejm-2021/"}],"technology":[{"id":"auger-electron-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Auger-electron therapy","route":"/technologies/auger-electron-therapy/"},{"id":"lu177-radioligand-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Lutetium-177 radioligand therapy","route":"/technologies/lu177-radioligand-therapy/"},{"id":"psma-pet","kind":"technology","name":"PSMA PET","route":"/technologies/psma-pet/"},{"id":"radioimmunotherapy","kind":"technology","name":"Radio-antibody & radio-ADC","route":"/technologies/radioimmunotherapy/"},{"id":"radionuclide-parp-combination","kind":"technology","name":"Radioligand plus DNA-repair inhibitor combinations","route":"/technologies/radionuclide-parp-combination/"},{"id":"radioligand-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Radioligand therapy (beta emitters)","route":"/technologies/radioligand-therapy/"},{"id":"t-cell-engager","kind":"technology","name":"T-cell engagers (bispecific)","route":"/technologies/t-cell-engager/"},{"id":"targeted-alpha-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Targeted alpha therapy","route":"/technologies/targeted-alpha-therapy/"}],"institution":[{"id":"heidelberg-nct","kind":"institution","name":"Heidelberg University Hospital / NCT / DKFZ","route":"/institutions/heidelberg-nct/"},{"id":"inselspital-bern","kind":"institution","name":"Inselspital, Bern University Hospital / University Cancer Center Inselspital","route":"/institutions/inselspital-bern/"},{"id":"irst-meldola","kind":"institution","name":"IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori 'Dino Amadori' (IRST)","route":"/institutions/irst-meldola/"},{"id":"purdue-cancer-research","kind":"institution","name":"Purdue Institute for Cancer Research","route":"/institutions/purdue-cancer-research/"},{"id":"ucla-jonsson","kind":"institution","name":"UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/ucla-jonsson/"},{"id":"ucsf","kind":"institution","name":"UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/ucsf/"},{"id":"uk-duesseldorf","kind":"institution","name":"University Hospital Düsseldorf / CIO Düsseldorf","route":"/institutions/uk-duesseldorf/"}],"pairing":[{"id":"psma-pet-to-rlt","kind":"pairing","name":"PSMA PET → PSMA radioligand therapy","route":"/pairings/psma-pet-to-rlt/"}],"person":[{"id":"oliver-sartor","kind":"person","name":"A. Oliver Sartor","route":"/people/oliver-sartor/"},{"id":"clemens-kratochwil","kind":"person","name":"Clemens Kratochwil","route":"/people/clemens-kratochwil/"},{"id":"declan-murphy","kind":"person","name":"Declan G. Murphy","route":"/people/declan-murphy/"},{"id":"jason-lewis","kind":"person","name":"Jason S. Lewis","route":"/people/jason-lewis/"},{"id":"jeremie-calais","kind":"person","name":"Jeremie Calais","route":"/people/jeremie-calais/"},{"id":"johannes-czernin","kind":"person","name":"Johannes Czernin","route":"/people/johannes-czernin/"},{"id":"ken-herrmann","kind":"person","name":"Ken Herrmann","route":"/people/ken-herrmann/"},{"id":"louise-emmett","kind":"person","name":"Louise Emmett","route":"/people/louise-emmett/"},{"id":"hofman-michael","kind":"person","name":"Michael Hofman","route":"/people/hofman-michael/"},{"id":"michael-morris","kind":"person","name":"Michael J. Morris","route":"/people/michael-morris/"},{"id":"owen-witte","kind":"person","name":"Owen N. Witte","route":"/people/owen-witte/"},{"id":"peter-bartenstein","kind":"person","name":"Peter Bartenstein","route":"/people/peter-bartenstein/"},{"id":"rahul-aggarwal","kind":"person","name":"Rahul Aggarwal","route":"/people/rahul-aggarwal/"},{"id":"sandhu-shahneen","kind":"person","name":"Shahneen Sandhu","route":"/people/sandhu-shahneen/"},{"id":"thomas-hope","kind":"person","name":"Thomas A. Hope","route":"/people/thomas-hope/"},{"id":"uwe-haberkorn","kind":"person","name":"Uwe Haberkorn","route":"/people/uwe-haberkorn/"}],"collection":[{"id":"prostate-cancer-foundation","kind":"collection","name":"Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)","route":"/collections/prostate-cancer-foundation/"}],"target":[{"id":"cd28","kind":"target","name":"CD28","route":"/targets/cd28/"}]}}