Abstract: Objective:To evaluate the expression of IMP 3 and CD44proteins in recurrent urothelial carcinoma (UC) and to deter-mine the correlation between the two proteins.Methods:Data from transurethral resection of bladder (TURB) cancer cases between January 2002and December 2012were reviewed. Of the54UC recurrent cases in this study, one group of 25had experienced recur -rence within 6 months after surgery, and the other group of 29had their first recurrence after more than 3 years. IMP3 and CD44immu -noreactivities were increased, which correlated with the clinicopathologic parameters. The relationship between IMP 3 and CD44pro-tein expressions was also explored. Results:Six of the 25short-term recurrent UC cases were tested positive for IMP 3 and all belonged to high-grade UC. Among the 29long-term recurrent patients, only one case of low-grade UC tested positive for IMP 3. IMP 3 expres -sion rate 24% (6/25) and intensity weak staining at 16% (4/25) and strong staining at 8% (2/25) were higher in the short-term recur-rent group than those in the long- term group, which had an expression rate of 3.45% (1/29) and intensity rates for weak staining at 3.45% (1/29) and without strong staining (0/29). No difference was observed in the CD 44expression between the two groups. In addi -tion, the high expression of IMP 3 correlated with higher tumor stage and grade, whereas the CD 44expression tended to be inversely correlated with the tumor grade in recurrent UC patients. Furthermore, no correlation existed between the expression of IMP 3 and CD44proteins in the bladder carcinoma specimens.Conclusion:IMP 3 exhibited a significantly higher expression rate in short-term re-current UC specimens than in the long-term recurrent cases. Therefore, IMP3 could be used as a novel marker, together with the other factors including tumor stage and grade, for predicting the high risk of short-term recurrence in UC patients who underwent TURB.