Expression of survivin in human non-Hodgkin lymphoma and its correlation with proliferation and angiogenesis

In order to investigate the expression change of survivin in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and its possible effects on NHL development, the expression of survivin, Ki-67, caspase3 and FVIIIRAg in reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RH) and NHL was detected by immunohistochemical assay, and apoptosis index (AI) in RH and NHL by TUNEL analysis. The results showed that the expression of survivin is significantly higher in aggressive NHL than in indolent NHL (P<0.01), while there was no statistically significant difference between RH and indolent NHL (P>0.05). The expression of survivin had a significantly positive correlation with the expression of Ki-67 and FVIIIRAg (r=0.6495, 0.6635, respectively, both P<0.01), and a negative correlation with the expression of caspase3 and AI (r=-0.5820, -0.6013, respectively, P<0.01). It was suggested that survivin may contribute to the progression of NHL by playing an important role in promoting cell proliferation, inhibiting cell apoptosis and enlisting angiogenesis. Survivin expression is closely related to malignant grade and therefore may be considered an important prognostic factor of NHL.