Publication Name	World Journal of Gastroenterology
Manuscript ID	118762
Country	Japan

Category	Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Manuscript Type	Letter to the Editor
Article Title	Stage-dependent prognostic value of programmed death ligand-1 expression in gastric cancer: Implications for personalized immunotherapy
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Koji Takahashi
Funding Agency and Grant Number
Corresponding Author	Koji Takahashi, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, 3-6-2, Okayamadai, Togane City 283-8686, Japan. koji517@gmail.com
Key Words	Gastric cancer; Programmed death ligand-1; Prognosis; Tumor microenvironment; Immunotherapy; Pathological stage; Chemotherapy; Gastroesophageal junction cancer
Core Tip	The study by Zhang et al identifies a crucial stage-dependent prognostic role of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in gastric cancer, aligning with clinical observations from the KEYNOTE-585 trial. While high PD-L1 predicts poor prognosis in stage III, its role in stage II remains distinct, possibly due to differing immune surveillance states. This highlights that PD-L1 expression should not be evaluated in isolation but within the context of tumor-node-metastasis staging and the broader tumor microenvironment to optimize precision immunotherapy strategies.
Citation	Takahashi K. Stage-dependent prognostic value of programmed death ligand-1 expression in gastric cancer: Implications for personalized immunotherapy. World J Gastroenterol 2026; In press

Received	2026-01-12 03:01
Peer-Review Started	2026-01-12 03:02
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-01-23 10:05
Return for Revision	2026-01-23 10:05
Revised	2026-01-31 02:01
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2026-03-10 02:50
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-03-10 07:17
Articles in Press	2026-03-10 07:17
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	1007-9327 (print) and 2219-2840 (online)
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