It has been suggested that survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, is an attractive novel target for anticancer therapy. The present study investigated the expression of survivin during the early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and associated hepatitis, and attempted to elucidate how this expression is correlated with clinicopathological factors. Twenty-two patients (15 men and 7 women) underwent a liver tissue biopsy for the diagnosis of HCC. In the HCC and surrounding hepatitis-infected tissues, the average survivin expression rate was 62.36 and 31.41% (median), respectively. The serum level of ALT was correlated with the survivin expression rate in the HCC (r=-0.60, P<0.01) and hepatitis specimens (r=-0.43, P<0.05). The data suggest that certain clinicopathological factors may in future serve as useful indicators for the selection of patients responsive to the inhibition of survivin.

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