SMPD3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Also, abnormal promoter methylation of SMPD3 has been reported in breast cancer, colorectal cancer, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Demircan et al., 2009; Shen et al., 2012; Revill et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2015).