[Gastric function-preserving surgery (precision surgical treatment): breakthroughs in inheritance, advance in innovation].

Amid the developmental wave of "making breakthroughs while inheriting and forging ahead through innovation" in the field of gastrointestinal surgical diagnosis and treatment, the therapeutic concept of gastric cancer has undergone an in-depth transformation from the traditional "radical cure first" to "equal emphasis on radical cure and function preservation". As the core practice of this transformation, function-preserving surgery for gastric cancer not only inherits the classic radical principles of oncological surgery but also achieves precise breakthroughs in gastric function protection relying on technological innovations. The emergence of the concept of Function-Preserving Gastrectomy (FPG) marks that the development of gastric cancer surgery has entered an era of greater individualization and precision. As the leading organizer of the «Expert Consensus on Function-Preserving Surgery for Gastric Cancer in China», the author has been deeply engaged in the field of gastric cancer surgery for more than 20 years, witnessing the entire process of function-preserving surgery from conceptual germination to technical maturity. With the rapid advancement of gastric cancer surgical technologies represented by functional visualization, lymph node tracing, vascular navigation, radiomics, and artificial intelligence (AI), the concept and practice of FPG are also constantly evolving. This article will systematically sort out the "inheriting core" and "innovative path" of FPG, analyze the new development opportunities in the AI era, and provide evidence-based guidance for clinical practice.