As a new member of IAP (inhibitors of apoptosis protein) family, survivin has potent anti-apoptotic activities, and involves in the mitosis and angiogenesis. Researches have demonstrated that surviving is a tumor-specific anti-apoptotic factor, expressed in fetal tissues, and common human cancers, while not in normal, terminally differentiated adult tissues. The overexpression of survivin in tumor tissues is correlated with poor prognosis of the patients. Survivin can be used as a prognostic factor and a new target in tumor targeting therapy.