The targeted bisulfite sequencing methodology MethylTarget (GENESKY, Shanghai, China) was performed in an additional cohort of 36 MDS and 25 controls to further validate the six candidate genes (DLEU7, FOXR1, LEP, PANX2, RARRES2, and REC8), which may have potential biological functions in cancers predicted by Coremine analysis (http://www.coremine.com/medical/#search). Here, LEP is linked to myelodysplastic syndrome.