TSHR and thyroid gland carcinoma: Other genes identified as hypermethylated in thyroid cancer include the TSH receptor, NIS, PCNA, CDKN2A, FGFR2, and RASSF1A. High-throughput technology has shown that patterns of methylation that correlate with tumor formation and progression produce a genetic signature called the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP).