BIRC7 and cervical carcinoma: Livin gene is known to show a limited expression pattern, particularly in certain cancerous cells (melanoma or HeLa cervical carcinoma cells); with no or to a lesser extent in most normal tissues, livin is supposed to hinder the process of apoptosis by inhibition of caspases-3 and caspases-9 (Crnkovic-Mertens et al., 2003).