Additionally, epigenetic modifications (such as DNA methylation and histone acetylation) may also regulate the expression of PTEN. PTEN loss caused by aberrant hypermethylation of the DNA promoter region has been identified in various malignant and benign (non-tumor) diseases (Mueller et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2016; Geybels et al., 2017). Here, PTEN is linked to neoplasm.