In this study, we examined methylation patterns of ten tumor-associated genes (RASSF1A, GSTP1, RIZ1, SOCS1, TNFRSF10C, hTERT, NRG1, CLU, miR-203, miR-663) and of the LINE-1 repetitive element in 45 HCC and 17 matching non-tumor livers (see Figure 1 and Additional file 1: Table S1). The gene discussed is SOCS1; the disease is neoplasm.