Dataset Information

Claudin 18.2 expression in various tumor types and its role as a potential target in advanced gastric cancer

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alterations in claudin expression can impair tight junction function, influence signaling pathways, and act as a tumor-promoting event in some epithelial cancers. Recently, zolbetuximab, a highly potent and tumor cell-selective therapeutic antibody against claudin 18.2, has been developed and investigated in clinical trials.

Methods

We conducted a prospective study using claudin 18.2 immunohistochemistry in 430 consecutive patients with advanced gastrointestinal, genitourinary, or rare cancers between June 2012 and March 2016.

Results

Claudin 18.2 expression was evaluated in 96.3% of the patients (414/430) using immunohistochemistry. In total, 4.1% (17/414) of the patients were claudin 18.2-positive, including patients with pancreatic (16.7%, 1/6), gastric (14.1%, 12/85), biliary tract (6.3%, 1/16), genitourinary/miscellaneous (2.2%, 1/46), and colorectal (0.9%, 2/203) cancers. Twelve of 17 patients positive for claudin 18.2 had gastric cancers (GCs); this subgroup showed no statistical differences by gender, age, disease extent, primary tumor site, pathologic differentiation, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or Epstein-Barr virus status with or without claudin 18.2 expression. However, claudin 18.2 was more frequently positive in intestinal-type compared with diffuse-type as assessed by Lauren classification (P=0.026). There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between patients with and without claudin 18.2 expression (P=0.101).

Conclusions

Our results add to the emerging literature about claudin 18.2 expression in various cancer types and support the need for extended clinical exploration of zolbetuximab.

SUBMITTER: Hong J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8797704 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is frequently diagnosed and treated in advanced tumor stages with poor prognosis. More effective screening programs and novel therapeutic means are urgently needed. Recent studies have regarded tight junction protein claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) as a candidate target for cancer treatment, and zolbetuximab (formerly known as IMAB362) has been developed against CLDN18.2. However, there are few data reported thus far related to the clinicopathological characteristics of CLDN18.2 expression for PDAC.AimTo investigate the expression of CLDN18.2 in PDAC patients and subsequently propose a new target for the treatment of PDAC.MethodsThe Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype-Tissue Expression, Gene Expression Omnibus, and European Genome-phenome Archive databases were first employed to analyze the CLDN18 gene expression in normal pancreatic tissue compared to that in pancreatic cancer tissue. Second, we analyzed the expression of CLDN18.2 in 93 primary PDACs, 86 para-cancer tissues, and 13 normal pancreatic tissues by immunohistochemistry. Immunostained tissues were assessed applying the histoscore. subsequently, they fell into two groups according to the expression state of CLDN18.2. Furthermore, the correlations between CLDN18.2 expression and diverse clinicopathological characteristics, including survival, were investigated.ResultsThe gene expression of CLDN18 was statistically higher (P < 0.01) in pancreatic tumors than in normal tissues. However, there was no significant correlation between CLDN18 expression and survival in pancreatic cancer patients. CLDN18.2 was expressed in 88 (94.6%) of the reported PDACs. Among these tumors, 50 (56.8%) cases showed strong immunostaining. The para-cancer tissues were positive in 81 (94.2%) cases, among which 32 (39.5%) of cases were characterized for strong staining intensities. Normal pancreatic tissue was identified solely via weak immunostaining. Finally, CLDN18.2 expression significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, nerve invasion, stage, and survival of PDAC patients, while there was no correlation between CLDN18.2 expression and localization, tumor size, patient age and sex, nor any other clinicopathological characteristic.ConclusionCLDN18.2 expression is frequently increased in PDAC patients. Thus, it may act as a potential therapeutic target for zolbetuximab in PDAC.

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