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The researchers stained the small cancers to highlight the cells containing mistakes in the p53 gene, which have long been linked to the onset of many cancer types. Then, the scientists used an infrared laser to peel off the highlighted area of cancer cells. Next, the scientists performed what is known as whole-exome genome sequencing -- sequencing all known genes -- on all of the samples to create a catalog of the genetic blueprint of the protein coding genes in the cells' DNA. Without this approach, the results of genomic sequencing would have been swamped with DNA from normal cells, making it difficult to detect cancer-linked DNA errors, Papp says.

The results showed that all nine patients lost identical regions of chromosome 17, where the cancer-linked p53 gene is located, in each of the cancer samples, including the early-stage STIC lesions, suggesting that the "misprinted" or flawed p53 gene is an early step in ovarian cancer development.

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