Constitutional and tumor DNA from a test series of 37 patients with rectal and 25 patients with sigmoid carcinomas, previously analyzed for microsatellite instability (MSI), was studied for BAX, IGF2R, TGFBR2, MSH3, and MSH6 microsatellite sequence alterations, BRAF and KRAS mutations, and MLH1 promoter methylation. Here, MLH1 is linked to neoplasm.