Objective To investigate the clinical significance of the expression of XIAP mRNA and SurvivinmRNA in non-small cell lung cancer and their relationship. Methods RT-PCR was used to evaluate the expression of XIAP mRNA and SurvivinmRNA in 59 cases of NSCLC and corresponding normal tissues.Results There was a significant difference in XIAP mRNA expression in primary lung and corresponding normal tissues (61.0 % vs 30.5 %, P<0.05), whereas there were no significant correlation between the XIAP mRNA expression and gender, age, smokinghistory, histological subtype, T stage, lymph node metastatic status and TNM stage. There was a significant difference in SurvivinmRNA expression in primary lung and corresponding normal tissues (81.4 % vs 23.7 %, P<0.05), whereas there were no significant correlation between the SurvivinmRNA expression and gender, age, smokinghistory, histological subtype, T stage, lymph node metastatic status and TNM stage. Conclusion The significant difference of XIAP mRNA and SurvivinmRNA expression between the tumor and corresponding normal tissues implies they might play important roles in the carcinogenesis and progress of NSCLC and might become marker for the diagnosis and target for treatment of NSCLC.