Initially, the expression of 20 different Eph and ephrin genes (EphA1-A8, EphB1-4 and 6, ephrin A1-5 and ephrin B1-2) were screened by quantitative real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) on two normal ovaries and ten ovarian cancer specimens. The gene discussed is EPHA1; the disease is ovarian carcinoma.