We also examined the methylation status of the p16INK4A gene, which has been shown to be frequently hypermethylated in several types of cancers (Herman et al, 1996; Rocco and Sidransky, 2001), and was coincidentally inactivated with 14-3-3 σ in oral and vulval squamous cell carcinoma (Gasco et al, 2002a, 2002b). This evidence concerns the gene CDKN2A and cancer.