Anti-claudin 18.2 antibody as new targeted therapy for advanced gastric cancer

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy have revolutionized treatment of various cancers in the past decade. Despite targeted therapy with trastuzumab in Her2-positive gastric cancer patients, survival has been dismal, mostly due to disease progression and toxicity related to the treatments. One area of active development is looking for ideal monoclonal antibodies (IMAB) specific to the proteins only on the tumor and hence avoiding unnecessary side effects. Claudin proteins with isoform 2 are one such protein, specific for several cancers, particularly gastric cancer and its metastases, leading to the development of anti-claudin 18.2 specific antibody, claudiximab. This review will highlight the latest development of claudiximab as first in class IMAB for the treatment of gastric cancer.