HIC1 and neoplasm: For all the seven candidate genes, a significantly higher promoter methylation frequency was observed in tumor samples of patients with OC in comparison to the normal control samples (Pearson chi-square: HOXA9, p < 0.00001; HIC1, p < 0.00001; DAPK1, p = 0.00004; SOX1, p=<0.00001; RASSF1A, p = 0.00001; SFRP1, p < 0.00001 and SPARC, p = 0.00302 respectively) (Table 2).