Using a cut-off of 0.1% methylation in wbc DNA, 15 of the 23 genes that showed methylation in at least 50% of cancers and adenomas, and particularly 11 genes methylated in at least 70% of neoplastic samples (BCAT1, COL4A2, DLX5, FGF5, FOXF1, FOXI2, GRASP, IKZF1, IRF4, SDC2 and SOX21) show potential for evaluation as biomarkers for CRC detection in blood. Here, COL4A2 is linked to cancer.