Expression of Survivin in pancreatic cancer and its correlation to expression of Bcl-2

AIM: To investigate the expression of Survivin in pancreatic cancer and its correlation to the expression of Bcl-2. METHODS: Survivin and Bcl-2 expressions were examined by immunohistochemistry in 42 tissue samples from pancreatic cancer and 10 from normal pancrease. RESULTS: No survivin expression was detected in the tissue samples from normal pancrease, while it was detected in 34 of 42 tissue samples from pancreatic cancer (81.95%). There was a correlation between survivin expression and differentiation and stages of pancreatic cancer. Survivin positive cases were strongly correlated to Bcl-2 expression (28/30 vs 6/12, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Overexpression of survivin plays an important role in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer, and correlates to the expression of Bcl-2. Survivin expression can be used as a prognostic factor.