High Claudin 18.2 Expression Predicts Favorable Outcomes in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma After Curative Resection

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Gastroenterology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a poor prognosis due to late diagnosis and treatment resistance.
• Current treatments for PDAC offer limited efficacy, necessitating novel therapeutic targets.
• Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) is a potential target for monoclonal antibody therapies, but its role in PDAC requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between CLDN18.2 expression and clinicopathologic features in PDAC.
• To determine the prognostic significance of CLDN18.2 expression on patient survival outcomes.
• To evaluate CLDN18.2 as a potential therapeutic and prognostic marker in PDAC.

Main Methods:

• Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to assess CLDN18.2 expression in 95 PDAC tissue samples.
• The H-score method quantified CLDN18.2 expression, categorizing samples into high (≥200) and low (<200) expression groups.
• Statistical analyses correlated CLDN18.2 expression with clinicopathologic variables and survival data (overall survival and recurrence-free survival).

Main Results:

• High CLDN18.2 expression was observed in 21.1% of PDAC cases.
• High CLDN18.2 expression correlated significantly with better tumor differentiation, absence of lymphatic invasion, lower lymph node ratio, and lower N stage.
• Patients with high CLDN18.2 expression demonstrated significantly prolonged overall survival and recurrence-free survival. This benefit was particularly noted in patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

Conclusions:

• High CLDN18.2 expression is associated with favorable clinicopathologic characteristics in PDAC.
• Elevated CLDN18.2 expression serves as a positive prognostic indicator for PDAC patients, correlating with improved survival.
• CLDN18.2 holds potential as both a therapeutic target and a prognostic biomarker in pancreatic cancer management.