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World J Clin Oncol. Jul 24, 2026; 17(7): 121993
Published online Jul 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.121993
Published online Jul 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.121993
Harnessing minimal residual disease for precision medicine in locally advanced gastric cancer
Xiao-Wei Guo, Xin-Xin Xu, Guang-Fu Zhou, Qian Zhou, Xiao-Xin Gao, Cheng-Zhou Du, Hong-Tao Li, Department of General Surgery, The 940th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Lanzhou 730050, Gansu Province, China
Bing-Jie Deng, The First Clinical Medical College, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou 730101, Gansu Province, China
Zhi Qiao, Department of General Surgery and Institute of General Surgery, The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Co-first authors: Xiao-Wei Guo and Xin-Xin Xu.
Co-corresponding authors: Zhi Qiao and Hong-Tao Li.
Author contributions: Guo XW and Xu XX conceived and designed the review; Deng BJ, Zhou GF, and Gao XX performed the literature search, screened relevant studies, and extracted key information; Guo XW drafted the initial manuscript; Xu XX, Qiao Z, and Li HT critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Zhou Q and Du CZ provided methodological guidance and supervision; Guo XW and Xu XX made equal contributions to the work as the co-first authors; Qiao Z and Li HT made equal contributions to the work as the co-corresponding authors. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: We would like to clarify that ChatGPT was used only as a supportive language tool for limited grammar checking and minor language refinement of certain sentences during manuscript preparation. The tool was not used to generate scientific content, results, interpretations, or figures. All intellectual content, analysis, and conclusions were fully developed by the authors.
Supported by Military Health Care Project, No. 24BJZ15; and Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Project, No. 25JRRA1191.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Hong-Tao Li, Associate Chief Physician, Associate Professor, Depart
Received: April 8, 2026
Revised: June 10, 2026
Accepted: June 25, 2026
Published online: July 24, 2026
Processing time: 107 Days and 14.1 Hours
Revised: June 10, 2026
Accepted: June 25, 2026
Published online: July 24, 2026
Processing time: 107 Days and 14.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Locally advanced gastric cancer remains difficult to cure because occult residual disease can drive recurrence after radical or multimodal therapy. Minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) offers a non-invasive strategy for molecular surveillance, recurrence-risk stratification, and dynamic evaluation of treatment res