# FTO

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

## TL;DR

FTO (Alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase FTO) is an enzyme. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Breast cancer.

## Summary

RNA demethylase that mediates oxidative demethylation of different RNA species, such as mRNAs, tRNAs and snRNAs, and acts as a regulator of fat mass, adipogenesis and energy homeostasis. Specifically demethylates N(6)-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA, the most prevalent internal modification of messenger RNA (mRNA) in higher eukaryotes. M6A demethylation by FTO affects mRNA expression and stability.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.63 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 1.00, genetic association 0.77, clinical 0.16).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: FTO alpha-ketoglutarate dependent dioxygenase; Alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase FTO; KIAA1752; MGC5149; ALKBH9; IFEX9
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: FTO
- Class: enzyme
- Biology: RNA demethylase that mediates oxidative demethylation of different RNA species, such as mRNAs, tRNAs and snRNAs, and acts as a regulator of fat mass, adipogenesis and energy homeostasis. Specifically demethylates N(6)-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA, the most prevalent internal modification of messenger RNA (mRNA) in higher eukaryotes. M6A demethylation by FTO affects mRNA expression and stability. Also able to demethylate m6A in U6 small nuclear RNA (snRNA). Mediates demethylation of N(6),2'-O-dimethyladenosine cap (m6A(m)), by demethylating the N(6)-methyladenosine at the second transcribed position of mRNAs and U6 snRNA. Demethylation of m6A(m) in the 5'-cap by FTO affects mRNA stability by promoting susceptibility to decapping. Location: Nucleus; Nucleus speckle; Cytoplasm (UniProt). Locus 16q12.2 (HGNC).
- Where found: Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.61 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254)

## 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: Open Targets known-drug datatype score 0.16. Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:24678: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:24678
- UniProt Q9C0B1: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9C0B1/entry
- NCBI Gene 79068: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/79068
- Ensembl ENSG00000140718: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000140718

## Connected records

- collections: [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/)

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