# FOXA2

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/foxa2/  
OnCo record `foxa2` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

FOXA2 (Hepatocyte nuclear factor 3-beta) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as a tumour suppressor, and it is called a cancer driver by mutation analysis of patient cohorts. Tied to Endometrial cancer.

## Summary

Transcription factor that is involved in embryonic development, establishment of tissue-specific gene expression and regulation of gene expression in differentiated tissues. Is thought to act as a 'pioneer' factor opening the compacted chromatin for other proteins through interactions with nucleosomal core histones and thereby replacing linker histones at target enhancer and/or promoter sites. Binds DNA with the consensus sequence 5'-[AC]A[AT]T[AG]TT[GT][AG][CT]T[CT]-3'.

IntOGen calls it a driver in 2 cohorts (0 activating, 2 loss-of-function), covering Endometrial Carcinoma.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: forkhead box A2; Hepatocyte nuclear factor 3-beta; HNF3B
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: FOXA2
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Transcription factor that is involved in embryonic development, establishment of tissue-specific gene expression and regulation of gene expression in differentiated tissues. Is thought to act as a 'pioneer' factor opening the compacted chromatin for other proteins through interactions with nucleosomal core histones and thereby replacing linker histones at target enhancer and/or promoter sites. Binds DNA with the consensus sequence 5'-[AC]A[AT]T[AG]TT[GT][AG][CT]T[CT]-3'. In embryonic development is required for notochord formation. Involved in the development of multiple endoderm-derived organ systems such as the liver, pancreas and lungs; FOXA1 and FOXA2 seem to have at least in part redundant roles. Originally described as a transcription activator for a number of liver genes such as AFP, albumin, tyrosine aminotransferase, PEPCK, etc. Location: Nucleus; Cytoplasm (UniProt). Locus 20p11.21 (HGNC).
- Where found: Endometrial cancer: IntOGen driver in 2 cohorts (UCEC)

## 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: IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 2 cohorts. Evidence tier "cohort-driver" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:5022: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:5022
- UniProt Q9Y261: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9Y261/entry
- NCBI Gene 3170: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3170
- Ensembl ENSG00000125798: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000125798

## Connected records

- collections: [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/)
- cancers: [Endometrial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/endometrial/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/foxa2.json