Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of survivin in keloid, and its significance in the development of keloid. Methods Tissue samples were obtained from 25 patients with keloid （12 males and 13 females, aging from 4 to 44 years with a disease course of 1-18 years）, and 15 normal skin samples obtained from surgical operation served as the controls. Streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase complex （SABC） method was applied to detect the expression of survivin in these samples. Results No expressin of survivin was observed in normal controls, while it was expressed in 80.0% （20/25） of the keloid samples with the predominant distribution in fibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells. The positivity rates of survivin were 57.14% （4/7）, 81.81% （9/11） and 100% （7/7） in tissues of low-grade, moderate-grade and high-grade keloid, respectively, with no significant difference among the three groups （P ＝ 0.133）. Similarly, no significant difference was observed in the positivity rate of survivin between recurrent patients and untreated patients （90.91% （10/11） vs 71.43% （10/14）, P ＝ 0.341）. Conclusion Survivin might play a role in the development of keloid.

Key words: Survivin, Keloid, Expression