Overall, our findings demonstrated that PKM2–c-Myc–survivin cascade regulated the proliferation, migration and tamoxifen resistance of breast cancer cells, suggesting that PKM2 represents a novel prognostic marker and an attractive target for breast cancer therapeutics, and that PKM2 inhibitor combined with tamoxifen may be a promising strategy to reverse tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer patients. The gene discussed is BIRC5; the disease is breast carcinoma.