Survivin-siRNA inhibited lymphangiogenesis and lung metastasis in vivo. (A) Representative images of the tumor sections examined by immunohistochemical staining for podoplanin, revealing the tumor vasculature (magnification, ×400). (B) Murine breast cancer 4T1 cells that were stably transfected with survivin-siRNA displayed significantly fewer pulmonary metastatic colonies than those cells in the UT and siRNAscr groups. (C) The expression levels of podoplanin and the mean vessel density within the tumors were reduced following stable injection of survivin-siRNA, compared with the UT and siRNAscr groups. Each bar represents the average vessel number for each group. All data are expressed as the mean ± SD. *P<0.05 vs UT. siRNA, short interfering RNA; siRNAscr, scrambled siRNA; UT, untransfected; MLVD, microlymphatic vessel density.