Review
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2007; 13(20): 2784-2790
Published online May 28, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i20.2784
Survivin: Potential role in diagnosis, prognosis and targeted therapy of gastric cancer
Ting-Ting Wang, Xiao-Ping Qian, Bao-Rui Liu
Ting-Ting Wang, Xiao-Ping Qian, Bao-Rui Liu, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Gulou Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Bao-Rui Liu, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, Jiangsu Province,China. baoruiliu@nju.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-25-83304616 Fax: +86-25-83304616
Received: January 27, 2007
Revised: February 3, 2007
Accepted: February 14, 2007
Published online: May 28, 2007
Abstract

Survivin is a protein that is highly expressed in a vast number of malignancies, but is minimally expressed in normal tissues. It plays a role as an inhibitor of cell death in cancer cells, thus facilitating the growth of these cells. In the case of gastric cancer, survivin is over-expressed in tumor cells and plays a role in the carcinogenesis process. Several studies on gastric cancer have indicated that there is a relationship between survivin expression and the ultimate behavior of the carcinoma. Since the expression pattern of survivin is selective to cancer cells, it has been described as an “ideal target” for cancer therapy. Currently, several pre-clinical and clinical trials are on-going to investigate the effects of interfering with survivin function in cancer cells as a biologic therapy. Survivin is a potentially significant protein in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of gastric tumors.

Keywords: Survivin; Gastric neoplasm; Diagnosis; Prognosis; Targeted therapy