Serum concentration of soluble decoy receptor 3 in glioma patients before and after surgery.

The suppression of immune responses in malignant gliomas is thought to be involved in glioma pathogenesis. The newly identified tumor-secreted soluble decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) can bind to the ligands CD95L and LIGHT, thereby neutralizing their pro-apoptotic actions. Little is known of the production of DcR3 by glioma cells. This study investigated the serum concentration of DcR3 in glioma patients before and after tumor removal. Blood samples were taken from 17 glioma patients and 10 control patients. The serum DcR3 concentration was measured using a DcR3 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. There was no statistically significant difference between preoperative (0.069 +/- 0.027 ng/mL) and postoperative DcR3 concentrations (0.068 +/- 0.022 ng/mL; p = 0.951). Similarly, there was no difference in preoperative DcR3 concentration between glioma patients (0.069 +/- 0.027 ng/mL) and controls (0.063 +/- 0.023 ng/mL; p = 0.106). Our study demonstrated no alteration in DcR3 concentration in glioma patients before and after tumor removal.