Survivin expression in tumor cell nuclei is predictive of a favorable prognosis in gastric cancer patients

One hundred and thirty three gastric cancer cases were investigated immunoh istochemically to clarify the biological role of survivin in gastric cancer cells using a commercially available anti-survivin antibody (SURV11A). Fiv e gastric cancer cell lines were employed to assess localization of survivi n by reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Southern blot ting, Western blotting and immunofluorescence, signals being found in both nucleus and cytoplasm. Survivin nuclear staining of gastric cancer cells wa s evident in 109 of 133 cases (82.0%) and associated with a favorable progn osis, being an independent prognosticator on multivariate analysis. Survivi n nuclear positivity also correlated with younger age and lower incidence o f vessel cancer invasion. In contrast, survivin cytoplasmic positivity was noted in 117 cases (88.0%) and did not correlate with any factor of progres sion or prognosis. The results indicate that survivin is present in the maj ority of gastric cancer cells but a nuclear localization may play an import ant physiological role in hindering tumor progression. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc ience Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.