{"entity":{"id":"cd137","kind":"target","name":"CD137 (4-1BB, TNFRSF9)","aka":["4-1BB","CD137","ILA","TNF receptor superfamily member 9"],"tldr":"4-1BB is a switch on activated T cells that makes them live longer and kill better. Rather than press it everywhere, new bispecific antibodies press it only on T cells that are already touching a tumour cell marked by PD-L1 or HER2.","summary":"TNFRSF9 (chromosome 1p36.23) encodes CD137 (4-1BB), the receptor for 4-1BB ligand (TNFSF9); its signal enhances CD8 T-cell survival, cytotoxicity and mitochondrial activity and so promotes immunity against viruses and tumours (UniProt Q07011). In OnCo it is the costimulatory arm of two tumour-anchored bispecifics: acasunlimab (PD-L1 x 4-1BB) in phase 3 for NSCLC, and cinrebafusp alfa (PRS-343), a HER2/4-1BB anticalin-antibody fusion protein that binds HER2 on tumour cells while engaging 4-1BB to costimulate T cells, in HER2-positive gastric cancer.","asOf":"2026-09-22","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:11924","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:11924"},{"label":"UniProt Q07011","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q07011/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 3604","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3604"}],"tags":["wave5-target"],"related":["pdl1","her2","cd28"],"cancers":["nsclc","gastric"],"sections":[],"technologies":["bispecific-antibody"],"targets":[],"drugs":["acasunlimab","cinrebafusp-alfa"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":["cancer-immunity-cycle","pd1-checkpoint"],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Prevalence not recorded in this wave: HGNC and UniProt carry no positivity rates and no other source was consulted."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo content wave 5 (HGNC REST, UniProt REST, corpus drug and pathway records)","editedOn":"2026-09-22"},"symbol":"TNFRSF9","hgnc":"HGNC:11924","ensembl":"ENSG00000049249","uniprot":"Q07011","entrez":"3604","biology":"Both corpus agents cluster 4-1BB only where the other arm has bound a tumour antigen (PD-L1 or HER2), so costimulation is confined to T cells in contact with the tumour rather than delivered systemically.","whereFound":["Activated CD8 T cells","NSCLC (acasunlimab) and HER2-positive gastric cancer (cinrebafusp alfa) trials"],"targetClass":"surface-antigen","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/cd137/","neighbours":{"target":[{"id":"cd28","kind":"target","name":"CD28","route":"/targets/cd28/"},{"id":"her2","kind":"target","name":"HER2","route":"/targets/her2/"},{"id":"pdl1","kind":"target","name":"PD-L1","route":"/targets/pdl1/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"gastric","kind":"cancer","name":"Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer","route":"/cancers/gastric/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}],"technology":[{"id":"bispecific-antibody","kind":"technology","name":"Bispecific antibodies","route":"/technologies/bispecific-antibody/"}],"drug":[{"id":"acasunlimab","kind":"drug","name":"Acasunlimab","route":"/drugs/acasunlimab/"},{"id":"cinrebafusp-alfa","kind":"drug","name":"Cinrebafusp alfa","route":"/drugs/cinrebafusp-alfa/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"pd1-checkpoint","kind":"pathway","name":"PD-1 / PD-L1 immune checkpoint & T-cell activation","route":"/pathways/pd1-checkpoint/"},{"id":"cancer-immunity-cycle","kind":"pathway","name":"The cancer-immunity cycle","route":"/pathways/cancer-immunity-cycle/"}]}}