Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of survivin and bcl-2 in human squamous cell carcinoma（SCC） lesions and cell line SCL-1. Methods Tissue samples from 60 patients with SCC and 10 normal human controls were immunohistochemically stained to detect the expressions of survivin and bcl-2. Western blot was used to measure the expressions of bcl-2 and survivin proteins in HaCaT human keratinocytes and SCL-1 human squamous cell carcinoma cells. Results In normal control tissues, there was no expressions of survivin or bcl-2, while in SCC, the expression rates of bcl-2 and survivin were 70% and 60%, respectively, and there was no statistical correlation between the expressions of bcl-2 and survivin （P > 0.05）. Neither the expression of survivin nor that of bcl-2 was correlated to patients′ age, gender or lesional site （all P > 0.05）. A statistical correlation was observed between the pathological stage in patients and expression of bcl-2 as well as between lymph node metastasis and expression of survivin （both P < 0.05）. Western blot analysis revealed a significant increase in the expression of survivin and bcl-2 in SCL-1 cells compared with HaCaT cells. Conclusion In SCC, survivin and bcl-2 seem to play their roles via different anti-apoptotic pathways.