The investigated gene promoters were chosen from loci previously reported to be methylated in ovarian cancer (n = 7; APC, CDH13, MGMT, MLH1, p14ARF, p16INK4a, RASSF1A) and from loci methylated in other tumour types (n = 6; ADAMTS1, CRABP1, HOXA9, HOXB5, NR3C1, SCGB3A1). The gene discussed is HOXA9; the disease is ovarian carcinoma.