Abstract: Purpose To explore the expression,relation and clinical significance of the apoptotic inhibitors Survivin and Livin mRNA in breast cancer.Method The mRNA expression of Surviving and Livin were detected in breast cancer samples and matched para-cancerous normal tissues by real-time quantitative RT-PCR(qRT-PCR).Results The positive rates for Survivin and Livin mRNA expressions were 62.3%(38)and 54.1%(33)in 61 breast cancer tissues,respectively.The significant correlation of Survivin was found with clinical stage,lymph node metastasis and HER-2 expression(P＜0.05).And there was a relationship between the expression of Livin and lymph node metastasis.There was no correlation between mRNA expression of Survivin and Livin.It was shown that patients with high Survivin and Livin mRNA expression had significantly poorer overall survival compared with patients with low expression of Livin and Survivin(P＜0.001 and P＜0.001,respectively).Conclusions Our study suggests that up-regulated mRNA expression of Survivin and Livin genes may closely correlated with the carcinogenesis and development of breast cancer.The relationship between Survivin or Livin and lymph node metastasis indicates that higher Survivin and Livin expressions may imply patient′s poor prognosis,and Survivin and Livin may serve as a new target for the therapy of breast cancer.