By Bijal P. Trivedi Left column shows DNA samples from a colorectal cancer.
Right column shows normal cells.
Using this technique, Anderson estimated there were 11,000 mutations in early stage cancer cells. Courtesy of Garth Anderson arly stage cancer cells can be riddled with as many as 11,000 mutations sprinkled all over their genome. Sometimes the mutation rate is even higher, and in late stage tumors the number of mutations can be as high as 100,000. This explosion of mutations is called genomic instability because the damage affects the cell's entire complement of DNA, or genome. For decades, scientists have been studying what genetic abnormalities must occur for a cell to become cancerous.