Survivin and Bcl-2 are generally considered to be inhibitors of apoptosis and are frequently overexpressed in several types of human
cancers. However, their role in regulating the biological behavior of
non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) remains controversial. We aimed to determine the expression of
survivin and Bcl-2 and explore their correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis. The expression of
survivin and Bcl-2
proteins in 62 specimens of NSCLC tissues and 30 specimens of
tumor adjacent tissues was detected using immunohistochemistry. The correlation between
protein expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis was analyzed. The percentage of
survivin-positive samples obtained from NSCLC tissues was 58.06% (36/62), which was significantly higher compared to that in normal lung tissues (10%, 3/30; P<0.05). Similarly, the percentage of Bcl-2-positive samples obtained from NSCLC tissues was statistically higher compared to that from normal lung tissues (51.61%, 32/62 vs. 6.67%, 2/30; P<0.05).
Survivin expression was closely correlated with
tumor differentiation,
lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (P<0.05), while Bcl-2 expression was only associated with TNM stage (P<0.05). The expression of
survivin was positively correlated with that of Bcl-2 (P<0.05). A five-year follow-up study revealed that the expression of
survivin and Bcl-2 was negatively correlated with post-operative survival duration. Our findings suggest that
survivin and Bcl-2 may act synergistically in the occurrence, development, invasion and
metastasis of NSCLC, both of which are up-regulated in NSCLC tissues. The co-expression of
survivin and Bcl-2, which is closely related to
malignancy, may serve as a
biomarker for predicting prognosis.