Recently, a novel anti-apoptosis gene, named survivin,was identified as a structurally unique member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (lAP) family. The gene is located on chromosome 17q25. Survivin is a 16.5 kDa protein that is expressed in vivo in common human cancers, but not in normal adjacent tissue,1 during the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Survivin expression is turned off during fetal development and not found in nonneoplastic adult human tissue, and it is turned on in most common human cancers. We investigated the expression of survivin in 50 patients with human gliomas, and determined its association with cell apoptosis and cell proliferation, and its impact on tumor progression and prognosis.