Assessing the Correlation between Survivin and Bcl-2 Expression to Pathological Malignancy and Anti-apoptotic Property in Glial Cell Tumors

Apoptosis is regulated by a number of factors, the mechanism of which is unknown. Bcl-2 is a well-known mediator of apoptosis. Survivin is also a recently discovered noble family inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP), which suppresses apoptosis via a different route than the Bcl-2 family. Survivin and Bcl-2 have been expressed in several human cancers. The purpose of the study was to characterize survivin and Bcl-2 expression in glial cell tumors, and investigate correlation to pathological malignancy and anti-apoptotic properties. Fifty-eight patients who had been surgically resected glial cell tumors were evaluated in this study. The pathological types of glial cell tumors were categorized according to the World Health Organization classification (WHO). Survivin was characterized in 60.3%, and Bcl-2 was expressed in 43.1% of glioma samples. Co-expression of survivin and Bcl-2 was observed in 25.9% of tumor specimens. Survivin expression in astrocytic tumors was significantly associated with pathological grade (P < 0.05); however, Bcl-2 was not (P > 0.05). Anti-apoptosis in patients with survivin, Bcl-2, or co-expression was detected in 91.4%, 92.0%, and 100%, respectively. These studies suggest that survivin expression correlates with pathological grades of gliomas. In addition, the expression of survivin or Bcl-2 also has a potent anti-apoptotic property in gliomas. Our results indicate that survivin or Bcl-2 may be potential targets to induce apoptosis of gliomas.