Relationships between survivin expression and cancer cell apoptosis, proliferation and p53 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

    HUI Wenª²Tao, NAN Keª²Jun, RUAN Zhiª²Ping, JING Zhao, ZHANG Qunª²Ling

    1Department of Oncology, 2Department of Pathology, First Affiliated Hospital, Xi¬ðan Jiaotong University, Xi¬ðan 710061, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the expression of survivin protein and its relationship with cell apoptosis, proliferation and p53 protein expression in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: The expressions of survivin, p53 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in 42 cancer tissues, 34 ajacent cirrhosis tissues and 10 normal tissues were assessed by immunohistochemical method and apoptosis was detected by TUNEL method. RESULTS: Survivin protein was expressed in 30 of the 42 cases of HCC (71.4%) and in 4 of the 34 cases of adjacent cirrhosis tissues (11.8%). Expression of survivin protein was negative in the 10 cases of normal tissues. Survivin protein positive expression rate in HCC was significantly higher than that in adjacent cirrhosis tissues and normal tissues (P<0.001). The increased survivin protein expression in cancer was significantly correlated with the histological grade (P=0.003), p53 protein expression (P=0.008), survival time (P=0.002) and the ratio of proliferative index to apoptotic index (P=0.001), but was not with age, sex, tumor size, clinical stage and local metastasis (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a marked increased survivin expression in HCC, which may play an important role in breaking the balance between the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells. Survivin may promote p53ª²negative HCC cells to obtain an antiª²apoptosis ability, thereby promoting the development of HCC and partly playing a role in the further malignant transition of tumor cells. ......