Tight junction protein claudin 4 in gastric carcinoma and its relation to lymphangiogenic activity

ABSTRACT

Background and study aims: Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Claudins are a family of tight junction proteins that are biologically relevant in many cancer progression steps. This study aimed to investigate the expression of the intestinal claudin [claudin 4] in gastric carcinoma and to evaluate its relation to the different clinicopathologic prognostic parameters, especially lymphangiogenesis [production of new lymphatic vessels, measured by lymphovascular density [LVD]] and lymphovascular invasion [LVI]