Figure 2.

Distribution of long interspersed nucleotide element 1 (LINE-1) methylation levels in 1224 colorectal cancer cases according to the number of first-degree relatives with colorectal cancer (CRC) in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Information on the number of first-degree relatives with CRC was obtained from cohort participants before CRC diagnosis. LINE-1 methylation level was determined by polymerase chain reaction on bisulfite-modified genomic DNA, followed by pyrosequencing, as described in the Methods.