The objective of this work was an analysis of mutations in the p53 gene detected from fresh tumor samples of larynx cancer patients using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and direct DNA sequencing of exons 5-8. From 40 patient samples, 15 showed an extra band in SSCP. In 13 samples mutations were detected in exons 5-8. They constituted six transitions and seven transversions, four of them being T to A transversions. Mutations in codons 205 and 248 occurred in two and in codon 246 in three samples. Larynx cancer is strongly associated with tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. The typical p53 mutations in lung cancer, G to T transversions and G to A and C to T transitions, associated with smoking, accounted for 46% of the mutations detected. Fifty-four per cent of the mutations were detected in a reported hotspot region covering codons 238-248.