AFP and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: This approach fundamentally transforms the prediction of lymph node metastasis by shifting from traditional morphological assessment to a quantitative, dynamic, and mechanism-driven intelligent diagnostic framework (34); (2) develop streamlined ML algorithms within clinical decision support systems to enable intraoperative, real-time LNM risk assessment; and (3) validate the functional roles of key predictors (e.g., AFP) using organoid and in vivo models to establish a rigorous “computational prediction–experimental validation” paradigm.