Survivin expression in ovarian carcinoma: correlation with apoptotic markers and prognosis

Survivin is a novel inhibitor of apoptosis commonly detected in tissues during fetal development and in cancer, but not usually in normal tissues. Expression of this protein may be of prognostic significance and therapeutically relevant in many cancers. We assessed survivin expression in ovarian carcinoma, correlating results with expression of other anti-apoptotic (bcl-2, bcl-x, mutant p53) and pro-apoptotic (bax) markers, with prognostic parameters, and prognosis. Paraffin-embedded sections of 49 ovarian carcinoma were immunostained for survivin, bcl-2, bcl-x, bax, and p53. Expression was evaluated in nuclei and cytoplasm, as intensity (0-3+), and percentage of positive cells was scored on a four-tiered system with <10% as negative. Frequency of survivin, bcl-2, bcl-x, bax, and p53 was 73.5%, 36.7%, 93.9%, 77.6%, and 60.4%, respectively. There was significant correlation between nuclear survivin expression and grade (P =.0014), histologic type (P =.0376), and mutant p53 (P =.0414). Survivin expression did not correlate with bcl-2, bcl-x, or bax expression, stage, or overall or disease-free survival. The majority (74%) of ovarian carcinoma show survivin expression, which correlates with poor prognostic parameters (high grade, histologic type, p53 mutation) but not with survival. Therapeutic targeting of survivin in ovarian carcinoma is a future possibility.