ArticleScientific reports2025
The expression of the tight junction protein and therapeutical target Claudin 18.2 is heterogeneously distributed within esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma.
Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence of Claudin 18.2 Expression in Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2026Pooled it
- Intra- and intertumoral discordance of Claudin-18.2: a systematic review and meta-analysis.ESMO gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Review
- MET Expression in Upper Gastrointestinal Adenocarcinoma: Prevalence, Prognostic Impact, and Implications for Anti-MET Antibody-Drug Conjugate Therapy.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Antibody-Drug Conjugates in the Treatment of Esophageal Cancer.Current treatment options in oncology · 2026Review
- SMARCA2 and SMARCA4-deficiency is associated with a distinct molecular and microenvironmental subtype of esophageal adenocarcinoma.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Diagnostic discordance and treatment-associated change of PD-L1 and CLDN18.2 in gastric cancer: a real-world analysis of paired biopsy-resection samples.Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association · 2026Article
- Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in claudin 18.2-positive gastric cancer treated with zolbetuximab: Intrapatient heterogeneity or secondary loss of expression?Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Clinicopathologic correlates of claudin 18.2 expression in esophagogastric cancer at multiple expression levels.ESMO gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Article
- Claudin 18.2 Expression in Gastric Adenocarcinoma: Diagnostic Reproducibility and Clinicopathologic Associations in A Western Cohort.Oncology research · 2026Article
- The biology and therapeutic implications of heterogeneity in Barrett oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2026Review
- Cost-effectiveness of targeted therapy versus chemotherapy for patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer in China.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Bispecific antibodies in gastrointestinal cancers: current applications and future perspectives.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy resistance of esophageal carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- CLDN18.2-Directed Therapeutics in Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: Biomarker Assessment, Expression Dynamics, and Treatment Sequencing.Cancer management and research · 2026Review
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10 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) is a therapeutically relevant biomarker in esophageal (EAC) -and gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC). Little is known about its heterogeneity within the primary tumor and corresponding metastases and how many biopsies are needed to determine the true CLDN18.2 status of a tumor. CLDN18.2 was assessed in 1,283 patients (822 EAC, 461 GAC), using the antibody clone 43-14 A. Eight virtual endoscopic biopsies were taken from digitized whole tumor blocks. 204 of 822 EAC (24.8%) and 132 of 461 GAC (28,6%) were positive for CLDN18.2. In GAC, CLDN18.2 expression showed a trend towards less invasive growth (p = 0.02) and less common lymph node metastasis (p = 0.07) and was more often observed within the EBV-associated subtype (p = 0.01). When comparing the expression in one biopsy with the whole tissue section, the sensitivity for CLDN18.2 was low (58.8%). The sensitivity increased to a maximum of 76.5% with 6 and 8 biopsies (positive likelihood ratio = 17.8). Discordant expression between primary tumor and corresponding local lymph node metastasis was observed in 18.5%. This study highlights that CLDN18.2 is a heterogeneously expressed biomarker, within the tumor tissue as well as in primary tumor and corresponding lymph node metastasis. In case of CLN18.2-negative results the representativity of the biopsies must be critically assessed and a re-biopsy might be recommendable.
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