1 Introduction Gastric cancer remains a major global health challenge, ranking as the fifth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality.[1-3] Patients diagnosed with locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) have a particularly poor prognoses, primarily due to the high rates of recurrence and metastasis.[4, 5] Despite improvements in treatment strategies, including surgical resection, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies, the overall survival rate for patients...
