[Expression and prognostic value of survivin protein in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: As a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family, Survivin is highly expressed in various cancers, and is considered as an indicator of poor prognosis. This study was to investigate the expression and prognostic value of Survivin in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS: The expression of Survivin in 213 specimens of NSCLC was detected by immunohistochemistry. Patients' survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. The prognosis was analyzed by Cox multivariate model.

RESULTS: Survivin was expressed in both nuclei and cytoplasm. Of the 213 patients, 170 (79.8%) had low expression of Survivin (positive rate of < or =75%), 43 (20.8%) had high expression of Survivin (positive rate of >75%). Cox analysis showed that the expression of survivin was an independent predictor of overall survival (P>0.05). Among the 39 patients with small lung adenocarcinoma (tumor diameter of <3 cm), the difference in survival between Survivin-positive and Survivin-negative groups was not significant (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The prognostic value of Survivin in early-stage NSCLC is unclear.