Gastric cancer (GC) ranks as the fifth most prevalent malignant neoplasm globally and is also the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide[1]. Advanced tumor stage (T3/T4), lymph node metastasis (LNM), and lymphovascular or perineural invasion (LVI/PNI) are strongly associated with poor clinical outcomes[2–5]. These prognostic factors reflect advanced-stage disease, in which patients are more likely to benefit from neoadjuvant therapy[6–8]. Recently, some scholars have proposed tha…