It is possible that one or several genes that are commonly inactivated by hypermethylation in CIMP-high tumours have downstream effects upon the transcription and/or turnover of the CB1 receptor, and this produces the results seen here, or alternatively that the pattern of Cnr1 hypermethylation in colorectal cancer is rather different from that picked up in the CIMP screen. The gene discussed is CNR1; the disease is colorectal cancer.