In the present study, whole-genome methylation arrays were applied to identify novel genes with tumor specific DNA methylation of promoter CpG islands in pre-malignant and malignant colorectal lesions. Using a combination of Illumina HumanMethylation27 beadchips, Methylation-Sensitive High Resolution Melting (MS-HRM) analysis, and Exon arrays (Affymetrix) the DNA methylation pattern of ~14.000 genes and their transcript levels were investigated in six normal mucosas, six adenomas, and 30 MSI and MSS carcinomas. Sixty eight genes with tumor-specific hypermethylation were identified (p