CD248 is expressed at high levels by malignant sarcoma cells, by the pericyte component of tumor vasculature and by mesenchymal cells in some fibrotic diseases.
TEM1/endosialin was upregulated in primary and metastatic human brain tumors, where it localized primarily to the tumor vasculature and a subset of tumor stromal cells.
The restricted tissue distribution of the FB5 protein, which we refer to as endosialin, suggests strategies for tumor imaging and therapy that are aimed primarily at the tumor vasculature.