Abstract: Objective To investigate the association of serum levels of decoy receptor 3(DcR3) protein and the clinicopathologic
features of bladder transitional cell carcinoma. Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to examine the serum
levels of DcR3 in patients with bladder transitional cell carcinoma for analysis of its association with the patients’ age, gender,
clinical stages and pathological classification. Results The patients with bladder transitional cell carcinoma showed a
significantly elevated serum level of DcR3 (183.43±78.45 pg/m1) compared with the normal level (116.65±97.43 pg/m1, P<0.05).
The serum level of DcR3 in the patients showed close correlations with the TNM stage and pathological classification of the
tumor (P<0.05) but not with the patients’ age or gender (P>0.05). Conclusion In patients with bladder transitional cell
carcinoma, a high serum level of DcR3 suggests a higher malignancy of the tumor.