title: Survivin expression and serum levels in pancreatic cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis, is overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Its expression is known to be associated with poor clinical outcome. However, to our knowledge, there has been no study to characterize its usefulness as a serum marker for human pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, the relation between survivin expression and the serum level of survivin has not been widely studied in PDAC. We performed this study to investigate the expression and serum level of survivin in PDAC and its clinical significance as a prognostic factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed immunohistochemical staining for survivin in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks from 80 PDAC tissues. The serum level of survivin from the patients (n = 80) and age-matched healthy volunteers (n = 80) were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) prior to surgical resection. Levels of expression were correlated with clinicopathological parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum survivin concentrations were significantly elevated in patients with PDAC when compared with healthy sera (P < 0.001). High serum survivin levels were significantly associated with perineural invasion, venous invasion, lymph node status (N stage), cell differentiation, and recurrence but not with the tumor size, age, gender of the patients, or tumor location. The median overall survival time of the group with normal serum survivin levels was longer than that of the group with elevated serum survivin. The independent factors associated with overall survival were advanced pancreatic cancer and elevated serum survivin level. Of the 80 cases of PDAC, 65 (81.25 %) were positive for survivin expression. There were significant associations between survivin expression and perineural invasion, venous invasion, and lymph node status. A significant difference in overall survival was associated with survivin expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with elevated serum survivin level and high survivin expression at diagnosis demonstrated a poor outcome. Detection of serum survivin or tissue survivin expression may predict the prognosis of patients with PDAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, The affiliated hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China. donghe201536@126.com.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, China. fengweiqd@163.com.
authors.forename: Dongmeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital, Qingdao, China. wangyaqiuqd@126.com.
authors.forename: Yaqiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, People's Hospital of Zhangqiu, Jinan, China. woplel@126.com.
authors.forename: Lingsheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, The affiliated hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China. chendd820@126.com.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, The affiliated hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China. jxymzs@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiangyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, The affiliated hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China. fengweiqd@163.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D000077022:Survivin
chemical_list: C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D000077022:Survivin