Expression of Survivin in human non-small-cell lung cancer and its association with Bcl-2 and Bax

Objective To investigate the expression of Survivin and its relationship with expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2),Bax in human non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).Methods The expression of the survivin mRNA was detected by in situ hybridization (ISH) in 12 cases of normal bronchial epithelium,9 cases of dysplasia,34 cases of NSCLC and 12 cases of lymph node metastasis.Immunohistochemical assay was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins.Results The positive expression rate of Survivin in NSCLC (61.76%) and lymph node metastasis (91.67%) was significantly higher than in normal bronchial epithelium (16.7%) and dysplasia (33.3%, P 0.05).The up-regulation of the expression of Survivin was related to the TNM stages ( P 0.01) and differentiation ( P 0.05).The expression of Bcl-2 was positively correlated with the expression of surviving ( P 0.01). Conclusion Survivin gene may play an important role in the pathway of carcinogenesis and progression of NSCLC and it may be identified as a new therapeutic target.The up-regulation of the expression of Survivin predicts more invasion and poor prognosis.Survivin and Bcl-2 might play synergetic roles in NSCLC.