We investigated the effect of expression of survivin, an apoptosis inhibiting protein, on cellular proliferation and apoptosis in gastric cancer and assessed its relation to the pathological characteristics of gastric cancer. Resected gastric cancer specimens from 42 patients (intestinal type; 21 cases and diffuse type; 21 cases) were evaluated. There were no significant differences in the clinicopathologic factors between the two groups. Survivin mRNA expression was measured using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and survivin protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. The Ki-67 index was adopted for cell proliferation scoring, and the ss-DNA positive rate as an apoptotic index. The survivin mRNA expression inversely correlated with the apoptotic index (p<0.05). Survivin mRNA expression (p<0.001) and survivin protein expression (p<0.001) were significantly higher in the diffuse type than the intestinal type. In conclusion, gastric cancer avoids cellular death by survivin expression and this tendency was more conspicuous in diffuse type gastric cancer.