Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the expression of β-catenin and survivin in rectal carcinoma and to determine if there is a correlation between the two. Methods: The expression levels of β-catenin and survivin were detected in 60 cases with rectal carcinoma and 20 cases with normal parane-oplastic rectal mucous tissues using immunohistochemistry. Results: β-catenin was positively expressed in the 20 normal cases while survivin was not expressed. In the rectal carcinoma tissues, the expression rate of survivin was 61.7%, and the expression rate of β-catenin was 66.7%. The abnormal expression rate of β-catenin did not correlate with gender, age, histological differentiation or 5-year survival rate(P>0.05), but it correlated with lymph node metastasis (P<0.01). Positive expression of survivin did nothave a correlation with gender, age, histological differentiation or lymph node metastasis (P>0.05), but itdid correlate with the 5- year survival rate (P<0.05). The abnormal expression of β-catenin and the positive expression of survivin had a significant positive correlation in rectal carcinoma (P<0.01, r=0.388). Conclusion: Abnormal expression of β-catenin may activate the expression of survivin, which plays an important role in the carcinogenesis and progression of rectal carcinoma.