Survivin, the smallest member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, is overexpressed in cells of almost all cancers but not in most normal tissues in adults. Survivin expression is required for cancer cell survival and knocking down its expression or inhibiting its function using molecular approaches results in spontaneous apoptosis. Thus, survivin is an attractive and perhaps ideal target for cancer drug discovery. However, a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug targeting survivin has yet to emerge. In this Foundation Review, we examine and evaluate various strategies that have been used to target survivin and the stages of each survivin inhibitor to help understand this lack of success. We also provide future perspectives moving forward in targeting survivin for drug discovery.

Survivin是凋亡蛋白（IAP）抑制剂家族中最小的成员，在几乎所有癌症的细胞中都过表达，但在成年人的大多数正常组织中却没有。Survivin表达是癌细胞生存所必需的，使用分子方法降低其表达或抑制其功能可导致自发凋亡。因此，存活蛋白是用于癌症药物发现的有吸引力的并且可能是理想的靶标。但是，美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准的靶向survivin的药物尚未出现。在本基础回顾中，我们检查和评估已用于靶向survivin的各种策略以及每种survivin抑制剂的阶段，以帮助理解这种缺乏成功的情况。我们还提供了针对survivin进行药物开发的未来前景。