Sortilin (SORT1)
A receptor that pulls molecules into cells and is found at high levels in several cancers, including ovarian, endometrial and triple-negative breast cancer. A peptide-drug conjugate against it is in a phase 1 trial, and the first radioactive pair (one version for scans, one for treatment) was published in 2026.
Overview
Sortilin, encoded by SORT1 (HGNC:11186), is a sorting receptor that carries bound ligands such as neurotensin and progranulin into cells. That internalising function is what drug developers exploit. Theratechnologies built TH19P01, a peptide that needs sortilin to enter cells, and conjugated it to docetaxel as TH1902 (sudocetaxel zendusortide). In their preclinical work, high sortilin expression correlated with shorter survival in triple-negative breast cancer, more than 75% of clinically annotated ovarian and endometrial tumours showed high sortilin by immunohistochemistry, and TH1902 outperformed unconjugated docetaxel in xenografts without causing neutropenia. The phase 1 trial in advanced solid tumours, NCT04706962, started in March 2021 and is listed as active, not recruiting.
The radiopharmaceutical side is new. In March 2026 a Peking University group labelled the anti-sortilin antibody latozinemab to make [89Zr]Zr-DFO-latozinemab for PET and [177Lu]Lu-DOTA-latozinemab for therapy. Melanoma tissue showed high sortilin (mean H-score 189.79); the PET agent gave high-contrast tumour images peaking at 72 hours; the lutetium conjugate reached 39.08% injected dose per gram in tumour at 72 hours; and 11.1 MBq significantly slowed tumour growth. The authors describe it as the first sortilin-directed theranostic pair.
What is missing is anything between a full antibody with multi-day kinetics and the peptide carrying a chemotherapy payload: no small-molecule or peptide sortilin radioligand, and no human imaging data, has been published.
- Target · the protein and the cell it sits on
- Drug · antibody, small molecule, cell or radioligand
- Effect · signal, damage or kill
In plain words · A receptor that pulls molecules into cells and is found at high levels in several cancers, including ovarian, endometrial and triple-negative breast cancer. A peptide-drug conjugate against it is in a phase 1 trial, and the first radioactive pair (one version for scans, one for treatment) was published in 2026.
- 1 · What it is
A receptor that pulls molecules into cells and is found at high levels in several cancers, including ovarian, endometrial and triple-negative breast cancer. A peptide-drug conjugate against it is in a phase 1 trial, and the first radioactive pair (one version for scans, one for treatment) was published in 2026.
- 2 · What goes wrong in cancer
A type I membrane sorting receptor of the VPS10P family that binds neurotensin, progranulin and other ligands and carries them into the cell, which makes it an internalising gateway for conjugated drugs or radionuclides.
- 3 · How drugs use it
No product in this corpus aims at Sortilin (SORT1) yet. 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.
External identifiers
Biology
A type I membrane sorting receptor of the VPS10P family that binds neurotensin, progranulin and other ligands and carries them into the cell, which makes it an internalising gateway for conjugated drugs or radionuclides.
- Ovarian and endometrial cancer: high expression in more than 75% of clinically annotated tumours (Theratechnologies immunohistochemistry series)
- Triple-negative breast cancer: high expression associated with shorter survival, particularly with nodal metastases
- Melanoma: high expression on tissue microarray (mean H-score 189.79) and upregulated in transcriptional data across several cancers
- Normal brain and other tissues, where it traffics neurotrophins and lysosomal cargo
Latest papers
topQuery for this target: (TITLE:"Sortilin" OR ABSTRACT:"Sortilin" OR TITLE:"SORT1" OR ABSTRACT:"SORT1" OR TITLE:"Neurotensin receptor 3" OR ABSTRACT:"Neurotensin receptor 3" OR TITLE:"NTSR3" OR ABSTRACT:"NTSR3" OR TITLE:"Gp95" OR ABSTRACT:"Gp95") AND (radiopharmaceutical OR radioligand OR radionuclide OR theranostic OR "nuclear medicine" OR "molecular imaging" OR radiotracer OR scintigraphy OR 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 Sortilin (SORT1), not a curated reading list.
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