The results in the present meta-analysis demonstrated that survivin was a predictor for poor prognosis in RCC, which was in line with conclusions from other solid and hematological cancer types including breast cancer [10], non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [32], non-small cell lung cancer [33], glioma [34] and gastric cancer [35]. Here, BIRC5 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.