Importantly, we observed downregulation of tumor suppressor p53 in Dnmt3a+/- and Dnmt3aΔ/Δ lymphomas as well as in pre-tumor thymocytes from 9 months old but not 6 weeks old Dnmt3a+/- tumor-free mice, suggesting that p53 downregulation is chronologically an intermediate event in tumorigenesis. Here, TP53 is linked to neoplasm.