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CD123 is the interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain, present on every blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm and on the blasts and leukaemia stem cells of 70 to 80% of acute myeloid leukaemias. Tagraxofusp and pivekimab sunirine target it in that rare neoplasm, and CAR-T cells against it in AML must spare the normal blood-forming progenitors that also carry it.
CD123 is the interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain (IL3RA), expressed on leukaemic stem cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. It is universally present in blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) and found on blasts and leukaemic stem cells in roughly 70 to 80 percent of AML. Tagraxofusp, a CD123-directed cytotoxin, was the first approved therapy for BPDCN, and pivekimab sunirine (Decnupaz) followed with approval in 2026 for the same disease. CD123 is also a CAR-T target in AML, where the challenge is sparing normal haematopoietic progenitors that carry the antigen. Capillary leak syndrome with the fusion-toxin approach and durability of CAR-T responses remain open questions. The plain version: CD123 is an interleukin receptor over-abundant on a rare aggressive blood cancer and on leukaemia stem cells.
In plain words · CD123 is the interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain, present on every blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm and on the blasts and leukaemia stem cells of 70 to 80% of acute myeloid leukaemias. Tagraxofusp and pivekimab sunirine target it in that rare neoplasm, and CAR-T cells against it in AML must spare the normal blood-forming progenitors that also carry it.
CD123 is the interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain, present on every blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm and on the blasts and leukaemia stem cells of 70 to 80% of acute myeloid leukaemias. Tagraxofusp and pivekimab sunirine target it in that rare neoplasm, and CAR-T cells against it in AML must spare the normal blood-forming progenitors that also carry it.
Expressed on leukaemic stem cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells.
2 products aim at CD123: antibody-drug conjugates and immunotoxins. Because it sits on the outside of the cell, it can be reached from the bloodstream: antibodies flag the cell, ADCs deliver a toxin, radioligands deliver radiation, and CAR-T or bispecifics bring a T cell.
Lineage antigen shared with normal granulocytes: HPA blood lineage lineage enriched at or above 25 nTPM, and 1 cell-killing or cell-finding medicine (Pivekimab sunirine) aim at it, so normal cells of the lineage are hit too. HPA IL3RA: RNA low tissue specificity; blood lineage lineage enriched (granulocytes 2,669 nTPM); no normal tissue stained high; highest cancer staining glioma (2 of 11 high). Distribution: 1 cancer family in the corpus carries a prevalence row, label threshold or catalogue link for it (Leukaemia); Open Targets associates it with 0 specific cancer types at or above 0.5. (Rule 5 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)
Sources: Human Protein Atlas IL3RA tissue; Human Protein Atlas IL3RA pathology; Open Targets ENSG00000185291 associations
First described 1991. Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Kitamura et al, Cell, 1991, "Expression cloning of the human IL-3 receptor cDNA reveals a shared beta subunit for the human IL-3 and GM-CSF receptors". Source.
Expressed on leukaemic stem cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells.
RNA: low tissue specificity, detected in all normal tissues. Blood: lineage enriched (granulocytes 2,669 nTPM).
No normal tissue stained high.
Medium only: breast cancer, carcinoid, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer.
HPA IL3RA tissue · HPA IL3RA pathology · HPA protein class: CD markers, FDA approved drug targets
Human Protein Atlas version 25.1, antibody staining at reliability approved, enhanced or supported; used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Staining counts are patients per level in the atlas cohort, not population prevalence.
| Cancer | Prevalence | Measure | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute myeloid leukaemia | 70-80% | Blasts and leukaemic stem cells | Universal in BPDCN | Wikipedia |
Approximate, population-level figures; the measure column says what was counted. Ranges show the midpoint as a bar.
Pivekimab sunirine is an antibody-drug conjugate against CD123, approved in 2026 for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm as the second targeted drug for this rare cancer.
Tagraxofusp is a fusion of the growth factor IL-3 with a bacterial toxin that homes to CD123 on a rare, aggressive blood cancer.
Query for this target: (TITLE:"CD123" OR ABSTRACT:"CD123" OR TITLE:"IL3RA" OR ABSTRACT:"IL3RA") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about CD123, not a curated reading list.
Shares Orum Therapeutics, Acute myeloid leukaemia, Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.
Shares Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and the tag adc-target.