{"entity":{"id":"cd56","kind":"target","name":"CD56","aka":["NCAM1","neural cell adhesion molecule 1"],"tldr":"CD56 identifies natural killer cells, the part of the immune system that kills without needing to be taught what to look for. The same marker appears on neuroendocrine cancers, which is why it is used in diagnosis as well.","summary":"CD56 is the neural cell adhesion molecule and the marker that defines natural killer cells, which are split into CD56-bright regulatory and CD56-dim cytotoxic subsets. It is used twice over in oncology: to identify NK cells in an immune panel, and as a diagnostic stain for neuroendocrine differentiation, including small cell lung cancer, where it is also the antigen behind several antibody-drug conjugates.","asOf":"2026-10-16","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_cell_adhesion_molecule","links":[{"label":"HGNC:7656","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:7656"}],"tags":["immune-marker"],"related":["fcgr3a"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["nk-cell"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"symbol":"NCAM1","role":[],"sources":[],"specificitySources":[],"biology":"Adhesion molecule of the immunoglobulin superfamily; the defining marker of natural killer cells and expressed on neuroendocrine tissue.","whereFound":["Natural killer cells","Some T cells","Neuroendocrine tumours","Small cell lung cancer"],"targetClass":"surface-antigen","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/cd56/","neighbours":{"target":[{"id":"fcgr3a","kind":"target","name":"FCGR3A","route":"/targets/fcgr3a/"}],"term":[{"id":"nk-cell","kind":"term","name":"NK cell","route":"/terms/nk-cell/"}]}}