Using polymerase chain reaction--single strand conformational polymorphisms and EB staining techniques, 43 ovarian tumors were detected in the exons 5-8 of p53 gene. The results showed that alterations of p53 gene were 0/10(0%) in benign, 1/3(33.3%) in borderline, 14/30 (46.6%) in malignant ovarian neoplasms. In our series, the alterations of p53 gene were present in bordline tumor and stage I to stage i.v. cancer. The results suggest that the alterations of p53 gene are closely correlated with initiation of ovarian cancer and may be involved in the pathogenesis of ovarian carcinoma. It may be an early event and play an improtant role in the progression of human ovarian carcinoma.