Expression and Clinical Significance of Survivin in Acute Leukemia

Objective To study the expression and clinical significance of survivin in acute leukemia. Methods By using semi-quantitative RT-PCR technique, survivin gene expression was detected in 43 acute leukemia(AL). Results Survivin gene expression rate in the cells of AL patients at diagnosis was 69.77%(30/43). Survivin mRNA expression rate in both 18 acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and 25 acute nonlymphocytic leukemia(ANLL) (72.22% and 68.0% respectively) was signficantly higher than that in control group (33.33%,P0.05). Detected by semi-quatitative RT-PCR, survivin mRNA expression level in ALL, ANLL and CR patients (0.63±0.12,0.66±0.19, and 0.73±0.15 respectively) was also higher than that in control group (0.43±0.07,P0.05, by one-way ANOVA). Survivin mRNA expression level in ANLL correlated with the percentage of leukemic cells in the bone marrow (b=1.098,P=0.005). However, there was no significant difference in bone marrow remission (BMR) rate between survivin-positive and survivin-negative AL patients (P0.05). Conclusions Survivin gene was highly expressed in AL patients and could be a potential target for treatment of AL.