Background: Survivin, an apoptosis inhibitor protein, has multiple functions that favor cancer cell survival. We sought to determine survivin levels in blood samples and biopsies from patients with lung cancer compared to normal individuals and healthy lung tissues respectively.
Patients and methods: Blood samples were obtained from 32 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 49 healthy individuals. Tissue samples were also collected, 15 NSCLC biopsies and 15 histopathologically normal lung tissues. For quantitative evaluation of survivin mRNA expression levels, the hybridization polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was used.
Results: Overexpression of survivin was detected in all malignant samples. In spindle carcinomas survivin expression levels were higher than in adenocarcinomas (p=0.009) and squamous carcinomas (p=0.026). In moderately-differentiated tumors, survivin levels were higher compared to poorly differentiated ones. (p=0.0054). Disease's stage was not associated with survivin expression in blood and biopsies from patients with NSCLC.
Conclusion: Survivin is overexpressed in blood and tissue of patients with NSCLC and is associated with histological type and tumor grade.
Keywords: Survivin; apoptosis; mRNA; non-small cell lung cancer; proliferation; real-time RT-PCR.