After controlling for the classic risk factors such as tumor size, lymph node status, and age at diagnosis, Herbst et al. showed that serum methylation of HLTF was associated with a high risk of disease recurrence, and serum methylation of HLTF proved to be an independent prognostic factor for patients with stages I-III in a multivariate analysis [27]. The gene discussed is HLTF; the disease is neoplasm.