We used molecular biology techniques to study the genetic events associated with the development of human esophageal cancer. Point mutations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene were detected in one of 10 squamous cell and one of 14 adenocarcinomas of the esophagus, a frequency that implicates this gene in tumorigenesis. However, the finding of p53 mutations in Barrett's epithelium adjacent to adenocarcinomas may have clinical implications for p53 as a premalignant marker for esophageal cancer.