Among the known and potential tumor suppressive genes, only the intronic CpG in ZSWIM5 (cg04429789) was associated with hypermethylation in the Health ABC cancer diagnosed group; for this CpG, the positive deltaβ was significantly correlated with time to diagnosis with greater positive change in those closer to receiving a diagnosis (R = − 0.81). This evidence concerns the gene ZSWIM5 and cancer.