Promoter methylation of IRF4 (p < 0.001), ELMO1 (p < 0.001), CLIP4 (p < 0.001), and MSC (p < 0.001), is strongly associated with increasing severity of disease in the histological progression from gastritis with no metaplasia, to gastritis with metaplasia, to gastric adenocarcinoma (Figure 3). Here, CLIP4 is linked to gastric adenocarcinoma.