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Bladder cancer has high morbidity and mortality rates when it is diagnosed at an advanced stage. The aim of our study is to determine the effect of the DR-70 protein in the diagnosis of bladder cancer and to evaluate its relationship with the grade of the disease.

Serum samples from 60 patients with bladder cancer and 24 control patients with macroscopic hematuria of benign etiology were included in the study. DR-70 levels were compared between the bladder cancer group and the control group. Additionally, a comparison was made between patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and those with muscle invasive disease.

The median DR-70 level in the bladder cancer group was 1.08 U/mL (0.48-8.5), whereas it was 0.89 U/mL (0.29-1.76) in the control group. The DR-70 level was significantly greater in the bladder cancer group than in the control group (p = 0.012). DR-70 had a sensitivity of 73.3% and a specificity of 66.7% in detecting bladder cancer. On the other hand, the median DR-70 level was 1.06 U/mL (0.48-4.09) in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (Ta, T1) and 2.66 U/mL (0.57-8.5) in patients with invasive bladder cancer (T2). DR-70 levels were significantly greater in patients with invasive bladder cancer than in those with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (p = 0.021). Additionally, DR-70 had 72.7% sensitivity and 63.3% specificity in detecting muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Compared with that in the control group, the protein level of DR-70 significantly increased in patients with bladder cancer and was greater in the group with muscle invasion.