# CASP8

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/casp8/  
OnCo record `casp8` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

CASP8 (Caspase-8) is an enzyme. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, an oncogene driver, a tumour suppressor and a biomarker, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Skin cancer, Cervical cancer and 5 more.

## Summary

Thiol protease that plays a key role in programmed cell death by acting as a molecular switch for apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis, and is required to prevent tissue damage during embryonic development and adulthood. Initiator protease that induces extrinsic apoptosis by mediating cleavage and activation of effector caspases responsible for FAS/CD95-mediated and TNFRSF1A-induced cell death. Cleaves and activates effector caspases CASP3, CASP4, CASP6, CASP7, CASP9 and CASP10.

CIViC holds 2 clinical evidence items and 0 assertions across 2 variants, naming Conatumumab. Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.82 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.99, animal model 0.49, genetic association 0.70, somatic mutation 0.93). IntOGen calls it a driver in 17 cohorts (2 activating, 15 loss-of-function), covering Basal Cell Carcinoma, Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma, Invasive Breast Carcinoma, Cervical Adenocarcinoma, Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma and others.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: caspase 8; Caspase-8; MCH5; FLICE; Casp-8
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: CASP8
- Class: enzyme
- Biology: Thiol protease that plays a key role in programmed cell death by acting as a molecular switch for apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis, and is required to prevent tissue damage during embryonic development and adulthood. Initiator protease that induces extrinsic apoptosis by mediating cleavage and activation of effector caspases responsible for FAS/CD95-mediated and TNFRSF1A-induced cell death. Cleaves and activates effector caspases CASP3, CASP4, CASP6, CASP7, CASP9 and CASP10. Binding to the adapter molecule FADD recruits it to either receptor FAS/TNFRSF6 or TNFRSF1A. The resulting aggregate called the death-inducing signalling complex (DISC) performs CASP8 proteolytic activation. The active dimeric enzyme is then liberated from the DISC and free to activate downstream apoptotic proteases. Location: Cytoplasm; Nucleus; Cell projection, lamellipodium (UniProt). Locus 2q33.1 (HGNC).
- Where found: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Open Targets association 0.66 with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (MONDO_0010150); IntOGen driver in 4 cohorts (HNSC); Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.63 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898); Cervical cancer: IntOGen driver in 3 cohorts (CEAD, CESC); Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.58 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254); IntOGen driver in 2 cohorts (BRCA); Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: IntOGen driver in 2 cohorts (NPC); Bladder & urothelial cancer: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (BLCA)

## Notes

- Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: CIViC lists 1 therapies; IntOGen calls it an activating (Act) driver in 2 cohorts; IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 15 cohorts; CIViC holds 2 clinical evidence items on its variants. Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.
- Diseases the sources name that have no OnCo cancer page yet, so they are not linked: Ewing Sarcoma Of Bone.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:1509: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:1509
- UniProt Q14790: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q14790/entry
- NCBI Gene 841: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/841
- Ensembl ENSG00000064012: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000064012

## Connected records

- collections: [CIViC](https://onco.cc/collections/civic/), [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/), [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Bladder & urothelial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/urothelial/), [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/), [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Nasopharyngeal carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/nasopharyngeal/), [Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/casp8.json