biostudies-literatureUnknown20(11)Fu Y<h4>Background</h4>Prognostic assessment plays a crucial role in guiding clinical management and treatment decisions for gastric cancer patients. The enrichment characteristics of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has emerged as potential prognostic epigenetic markers.<h4>Methods</h4>Using 5hmC-Seal combined with next-generation sequencing (NGS), we profiled the genome-wide distribution of 5hmC in plasma cfDNA samples from 51 gastric cancer patients. Prognostic biomarkers were selected via random survival forest and Cox proportion hazards models, and a prognostic model was subsequently constructed.<h4>Results</h4>Seven prognostic biomarker genes were identified, and the 7-gene prognostic model demonstrated a concordance index (C-index) of 0.892 (95% CI = 0PloS onee0335654https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12633862biostudies-literature5-hydroxymethylcytosines from circulating cell-free DNA as noninvasive prognostic markers for gastric cancer.PMC12633862Jiang JFu CCao XZhang YCao DFu YWu YJia Zfalse5-hydroxymethylcytosines from circulating cell-free DNA as noninvasive prognostic markers for gastric cancer.<h4>Background</h4>Prognostic assessment plays a crucial role in guiding clinical management and treatment decisions for gastric cancer patients. The enrichment characteristics of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has emerged as potential prognostic epigenetic markers.<h4>Methods</h4>Using 5hmC-Seal combined with next-generation sequencing (NGS), we profiled the genome-wide distribution of 5hmC in plasma cfDNA samples from 51 gastric cancer patients. Prognostic biomarkers were selected via random survival forest and Cox proportion hazards models, and a prognostic model was subsequently constructed.<h4>Results</h4>Seven prognostic biomarker genes were identified, and the 7-gene prognostic model demonstrated a concordance index (C-index) of 0.892 (95% CI = 02025-01-01T00:00:00Z20252026-05-19T03:22:20.878Z2026-05-19T03:11:55.88ZS-EPMC126338624126465610.1371/journal.pone.0335654