Evaluation of survivin expression in prostate specimens of patients with prostate adenocarcinoma and benign prostate hyperplasia underwent transurethral resection of the prostate or prostatectomy

BACKGROUND Survivin is a newly found member of the inhibitors of apoptosis proteins, which plays a certain role in cancer. Survivin has a distinctly different expression in cancers, including prostate cancer. We are searching for the relationship between survivin levels in normal prostate tissue, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), and prostate adenocarcinoma in this study. RESULTS The study surveyed 282 prostate samples, 94 normal, 94 BPH, and 94 prostate adenocarcinoma samples. Survivin expression was absent in normal prostate tissues. In the BPH group, the survivin expression level was higher than that of the normal group. In the adenocarcinoma group, the survivin expression level was higher than that of the BPH group. There was a significant association between survivin expression level and the adenocarcinoma stage. CONCLUSION Although there is no expression of survivin in normal prostate tissue, its expression is slightly positive in BPH. High survivin expression is related to a higher Gleason score in the adenocarcinoma of the prostate.