Methods are provided for screening a test compound for anti-neoplastic activity by providing a test compound to a cancer cell and measuring the acetylation of Lysine 16 of the N-terminal tail of histone H4. Methods are also provided for using a test compound for staging a cancer tissue and for measuring the degree of the test compound's anti-neoplastic activity upon a cancer tissue by providing a test compound to a cancer tissue sample and measuring the degree of methylation of nucleotides within the 5′ region in the cancer tissue sample.