We have found four genes (AKR1B1, PTGIS, PTGER3, PTGFR) hypermethylated in a high proportion of all analyzed tumors (70, 63, 45, and 50 %, respectively), suggesting that DNA methylation is an important mechanism involved in the deregulation of this pathway in CRC. Here, AKR1B1 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.