NR3C1 and small cell lung carcinoma: To determine if the observed changes in GR promoter methylation were found in other human SCLC cell lines, a panel of 14 hSCLC cells lines with varying GR expression were compared with two GR expressing cell lines, (A549 and HeLa) a non-expressing cell line, (U2OS), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells as a primary cell comparison (Fig. 4a,b).