Thus, knockdown of UHRF2 or overexpression of DNMT3A all led to increased global DNA methylation and methylation in repetitive sequences, reduced cell proliferation and reduced tumor growth, thus supporting that overexpression of UHRF1/2 is a mechanism driving DNA hypomethylation in cancer and that DNA hypomethylation promotes tumorigenesis. The gene discussed is DNMT3A; the disease is neoplasm.