Expression of Survivin and its correlation with tumor angiogenesis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective To explore the roles of survivin in oral cancer angiogenesis.Methods Archival paraffin sections of 10 normal oral mucosa,16 leukoplakia with mild to moderate dysplasia,12 leukoplakia with severe dysplasia and 17 primary squamous cell carcinoma were obtained for immunohistochemical staining of survivin and Von Willebrand Factor.Survivin-positive cells in epithelium and the stroma were counted and analyzed statistically.Results Strong survivin expression was observed in carcinoma and not observed in normal oral mucosa.From oral epithelial precursor lesions to squamous cell carcinoma,the expression of survivin was increased with increasing grade.Von Willebrand Factor was also highly expressed in carcinoma.Conclusion Over-expression of survivin is an early event in the development of oral carcinoma and may be involved in angiogenesis of oral carcinoma.