# HER4 (ERBB4)

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/erbb4/  
OnCo record `erbb4` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The fourth member of the HER family, hit by the irreversible pan-HER inhibitors afatinib, dacomitinib and neratinib along with EGFR and HER2. It has no approved drug of its own, and its role in cancer is less clear than that of its siblings.

## Summary

ERBB4 (HER4) is a receptor tyrosine kinase activated by neuregulins that pairs with HER2 and other family members. Unlike EGFR and HER2 it is not an established oncogenic driver, and some studies link its expression to better outcomes in breast cancer. The irreversible pan-HER inhibitors afatinib and dacomitinib, approved for EGFR-mutant lung cancer, and neratinib, approved for HER2-positive breast cancer, inhibit ERBB4 as part of covering the whole family and preventing escape through HER2 or HER3 dimers. Rare ERBB4 mutations occur in melanoma and lung cancer but have no approved matched therapy.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Symbol: ERBB4
- Class: kinase
- Biology: Neuregulin receptor of the HER family; inhibited by pan-HER covalent inhibitors rather than by a dedicated drug.
- Where found: EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (as a pan-HER target); HER2-positive breast cancer (as a pan-HER target)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERBB4
- UniProt Q15303: ERBB4: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q15303/entry

## Connected records

- cancers: [HER2-positive breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-her2-positive/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- drugs: [Afatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/afatinib/), [Dacomitinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/dacomitinib/), [Neratinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/neratinib/)
- key papers: [Yarden and Sliwkowski 2001: untangling the ErbB signalling network](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-yarden-sliwkowski-erbb-network-nrmcb-2001/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/erbb4.json