ArticleInternational journal of clinical oncology2026
Intratumoral heterogeneity and chemotherapy-induced alteration of CLDN18.2 expression in resectable gastric cancer.
Article in International journal of clinical oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 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
- Research Progress and Optimization Strategies of Bispecific Antibody Therapies for CLDN18.2-Positive Gastric Cancer.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2026Review
- Intratumoral heterogeneity of intermediate CLDN18.2 expression in gastric cancer.International journal of clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Claudin 18.2 Targeting: A Pan-Cancer Perspective.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2026Review
- Resistance mechanisms and countermeasures in CLDN18.2-positive tumors: from molecular networks to clinical practice.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Bispecific antibodies in gastrointestinal cancers: current applications and future perspectives.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClaudin-18 isoform-2 (CLDN18.2) is a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for gastric cancer (GC). It may exhibit the intratumoral heterogeneity and varying expressions between biopsy and surgically resected specimens as well as pre- and post-chemotherapy, which could impact patient selection for the targeted agents.
methodsCLDN18.2 expression was immunohistochemically evaluated in pretreatment biopsy and surgically resected specimens from 183 patients with pT2-T4 GC who underwent upfront gastrectomy. The intratumoral heterogeneity was evaluated by classifying the distribution of CLDN18.2 positive cells as superficial, invasive-front, or random pattern. Furthermore, a separate cohort of 38 patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy without zolbetuximab were analyzed to compare the pre- and post-treatment CLDN18.2 status.
resultsCLDN18.2 positivity was observed in 31% (56/183) of patients. Among the 93 patients with 2 + /3 + expression in ≥ 10% of the tumor cells, 81 (87%) had heterogeneous expression patterns, including superficial (n = 46), random (n = 24), and invasive-front (n = 11) patterns. The overall biopsy-surgery concordance rate was 86% (157/183), but it decreased to 73% (59/81) in patients with a heterogeneous expression pattern. Notably, the concordance rate was particularly low in the superficial pattern, at only 65% (30/46). Among the 38 patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, only 4 of 11 initially CLDN18.2-positive cases remained positive after treatment, although the overall concordance rate was 82% (31/38).
conclusionThe CLDN18.2 expression demonstrated an acceptable concordance between biopsy and surgically resected specimens. However, high prevalence of heterogeneous expression and tendency for CLDN18.2 positivity to shift to negativity following chemotherapy existed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.