AR and gastric cancer: Previous mechanistic studies have reported that androgens, including androstenedione, exert their biological effects through the androgen receptor (AR), which has been linked to increased GC risk, H. pylori-negative status, and immune evasion, such as CD 8+ T cell exhaustion.[33,34] These findings support the hypothesis that the androgen-AR axis plays a key role in GC development, although further mechanistic validation is needed.