Objective: To determine the expression status of survivin gene in pancreatic carcinoma.
Methods: Expression of survivin gene was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, Western Blot and RT-PCR in 59 cases of pancreatic carcinoma along with their corresponding adjacent benign tissues, 11 cases of chronic pancreatitis, and 7 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines.
Results: The positive expression rate of survivin in pancreatic carcinoma was 72.8% (43/59). There was no relationship between the expression of survivin and tumor stage and differentiation. No expression of survivin was detected in benign tissue adjacent to the tumors as well as in samples of chronic pancreatitis. All 7 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines showed a positive expression of survivin mRNA and protein.
Conclusions: The expression of survivin appears to be tumor specific to some extent in our pancreatic carcinoma samples. Survivin may be an ideal target for therapy against pancreatic carcinoma.