Survivin is considered to be associated with
tumorigenesis by regulating apoptosis and cell proliferation. Recent experimental studies reported
survivin gene expression to be negatively regulated by wild-type p53. We investigated resected
tumor specimens from 140
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Quantitative reverse-transcription PCR analysis was performed to evaluate
survivin gene expression. PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism following sequencing was performed to investigate mutations of p53. The apoptotic index and the Ki-67 proliferation index were also evaluated according to the
survivin expression. The
survivin expression was low in normal lung tissue. In contrast, the
survivin expression varied greatly among
tumor tissues. The
survivin expression in
squamous cell carcinomas was significantly higher than that in
adenocarcinomas (P=0.0109). The
survivin expression in moderately or poorly differentiated
tumors was significantly higher than that in well-differentiated
tumors (P=0.0334). Furthermore, the
survivin expression in
tumors with mutant p53 was significantly higher than that in
tumors with wild-type p53 (P=0.0026). In addition, the apoptotic index was significantly lower in high-
survivin tumors than in low-
survivin tumors (P<0.0001). The Ki-67 proliferation index was significantly higher in high-
survivin tumors than in low-
survivin tumors (P<0.0047). This study indicated
survivin gene expression to be negatively regulated by p53 in NSCLC, and that
survivin expression could inhibit apoptosis and accelerate
tumor cell proliferation to produce more aggressive
carcinomas.