Notably, all eight genes that were frequently methylated in the HPV-transfected cell lines and cervical cancer cell lines (i.e. TP73, ESR1, RARβ, DAPK1, MGMT, CADM1, CDH13 and CHFR) overlapped with those found to be methylated in the cervical carcinoma specimens. Here, ESR1 is linked to cervical cancer.