Our recent study of CYGB promoter methylation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) using quantitative pyrosequencing methylation analysis (PMA) shows that methylation is both common (65% of cases) and significantly tumour-specific (P=0.02) in cancers at this site (Shaw et al, 2006). Here, CYGB is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.