This is consistent with previous reports in which MAL promoter hypermethylation was detected in cervical disease [21, 22] as well as several cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer [23], head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [19], cervical cancer [20, 24], ovarian cancer [25], gastric cancers [26], and colorectal cancer [27]. Here, MAL is linked to gastric cancer.