To investigate whether CTHRC1 gene expression is regulated by an epigenetic mechanism, specifically promoter CpG methylation, we treated colon cancer cell lines that showed low CTHRC1 expression (LS174T, SNUC1, SW480, and HT-29) with the demethylating agent, 5-Aza-dC, and then examined CTHRC1 mRNA expression by RT-PCR. Here, CTHRC1 is linked to colonic neoplasm.