Retrospective Cohort Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Feb 15, 2023; 15(2): 343-351
Published online Feb 15, 2023. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v15.i2.343
Prognostic value of claudin 18.2 expression in gastric adenocarcinoma
Erkan Kayikcioglu, Ramazan Oğuz Yüceer, Bulent Cetin, Kamuran Yüceer, Nermin Karahan
Erkan Kayikcioglu, Department of Medical Oncology, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32260, Turkey
Ramazan Oğuz Yüceer, Department of Pathology, Isparta City Hospital, Isparta 32360, Turkey
Bulent Cetin, Kamuran Yüceer, Department of Internal Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Medicine, Isparta 32360, Turkey
Nermin Karahan, Department of Pathology, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32360, Turkey
Author contributions: Kayikcioglu E contributed to conceptualization; Yüceer RO, Kayikcioglu E, Karahan N, and Cetin B contributed to formal analysis and investigation; Kayikcioglu E and Cetin B contributed to supervision; Kayikcioglu E, Yüceer RO, and Yüceer K contributed to resources; Yüceer K contributed to visualization; Kayikcioglu E, Yüceer RO, Yüceer K, Karahan N, and Cetin B contributed to writing and original draft preparation; Kayikcioglu E, Karahan N, and Cetin B contributed to reviewing and editing.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Suleyman Demirel University (Approval No. 01/04/2022-102).
Informed consent statement: The informed consent was obtained from the patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Erkan Kayikcioglu, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Suleyman Demirel University, Cunur, Suleyman Demirel Caddesi, Isparta 32260, Turkey. drkayikcioglu@yahoo.com
Received: October 29, 2022
Peer-review started: October 29, 2022
First decision: December 30, 2022
Revised: January 2, 2023
Accepted: January 23, 2023
Article in press: January 23, 2023
Published online: February 15, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) is a cell surface protein expressed by gastric cancer cells and a new target for the monoclonal antibody named zolbetuximab.

Research motivation

It is unknown whether CLDN18.2 expression on gastric cancer cells is prognostic.

Research objectives

To identify the prognostic value of CLDN18.2 expression in patients with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma.

Research methods

We investigated the effect of CLDN18.2 expression on clinicopathological characteristics (age, sex, histological grade, Lauren classification, family history, metastatic site, and HER2 expression) and prognosis for patients with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma.

Research results

There was no statistically significant correlation between CLDN18.2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of the patients. In univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, there was no correlation between clinicopathological characteristics of patients and progression-free survival or overall survival. The expression of CLDN18.2 was predictive for zolbetuximab in metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma, but it is not prognostic.

Research conclusions

CLDN18.2 expression is high in metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma and predictive for zolbetuximab, but it is not prognostic.

Research perspectives

Detection of new prognostic and predictive markers will make gastric cancer more manageable.