An in-vitro method for quantitating the extent of methylation of a target site within a DNA sample, the method comprising: (i) subjecting a DNA sample to bisulfite treatment to convert non-methylated cytosine nucleotides in the DNA to uracil nucleotides; (ii) amplifying and melting in real-time a portion of the DNA sample comprising the target site with selected forward and reverse primers incorporating a double-strand intercalating label providing an identifiable signal in double stranded DNA, the amplification and melting occurring together with a first control sample set of known DNA concentration and a second control DNA sample set of known percentage of methylated and non-methylated DNA; (iii) generating two standard curves: (a) a first standard curve derived from the real-time amplification of the first control sample, wherein the first standard curve is expressed as DNA concentration versus cycle threshold (Ct) which allows for the determination of the dynamic linear range of amplification and for the determination of the stable amplified product melting range of the first control sample where the signal strength is independent of DNA dilution; and (b) a second standard curve derived from the real-time melting of the second control DNA sample, wherein the second standard curve is expressed as signal strength due to melt release versus the known percentage of methylation from the second control DNA sample; (iv) determining whether the signal strength from the amplification and melting of the DNA sample comprising the target site falls within the dynamic linear range of amplification and the stable amplified product melt range by using the standard curves generated in (iii); and (v) using the signal strength falling within the dynamic linear range of amplification and the stable amplified product melt range to determine the percentage of methylation for the target site within the DNA sample by reading the percentage of methylation from the level of signal strength using the second standard curve derived from the second control DNA sample; and optionally (vi) correlating extent of methylation with a clinical phenotype. (i) subjecting a DNA sample to bisulfite treatment to convert non-methylated cytosine nucleotides in the DNA to uracil nucleotides; (ii) amplifying and melting in real-time a portion of the DNA sample comprising the target site with selected forward and reverse primers incorporating a double-strand intercalating label providing an identifiable signal in double stranded DNA, the amplification and melting occurring together with a first control sample set of known DNA concentration and a second control DNA sample set of known percentage of methylated and non-methylated DNA; (iii) generating two standard curves: (a) a first standard curve derived from the real-time amplification of the first control sample, wherein the first standard curve is expressed as DNA concentration versus cycle threshold (Ct) which allows for the determination of the dynamic linear range of amplification and for the determination of the stable amplified product melting range of the first control sample where the signal strength is independent of DNA dilution; and (b) a second standard curve derived from the real-time melting of the second control DNA sample, wherein the second standard curve is expressed as signal strength due to melt release versus the known percentage of methylation from the second control DNA sample; (iv) determining whether the signal strength from the amplification and melting of the DNA sample comprising the target site falls within the dynamic linear range of amplification and the stable amplified product melt range by using the standard curves generated in (iii); and (v) using the signal strength falling within the dynamic linear range of amplification and the stable amplified product melt range to determine the percentage of methylation for the target site within the DNA sample by reading the percentage of methylation from the level of signal strength using the second standard curve derived from the second control DNA sample; and optionally (vi) correlating extent of methylation with a clinical phenotype.