HOXA9 and cancer: Specifically, we wanted to (i) assess the prevalence of methylated HOXA9 in malignant and non-malignant lung tissue and plasma samples, (ii) establish a cutoff in tissue and plasma to discriminate between lung adenocarcinoma and non-cancer subjects, and (iii) investigate the correlation between methylated HOXA9 and mutated KRAS in tissue and plasma.