What remains to be determined about cg05575921 to move it toward use as a clinical biomarker are better understanding of rates of baseline methylation and decay across populations and more detailed information about its predictive utility with regard to clinical outcomes above and beyond self-reported smoking status and history, as is the case with F2RL3. However, at this time, even as a simple indicator of the presence or absence of active smoking [72], cg05575921 may be considered a biomarker that is ready for candidate clinical status. In the recent study of Zhang and colleagues [59], cg05575921 was among the top two loci most associated with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. Therefore there is emerging evidence that this locus too may have meaningful clinical applications beyond prediction of smoking status, as does F2RL3.
