{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T07:05:22Z","timestamp":1781247922652,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781136000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004319","name":"Pfizer Inc.","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["69880999_GRG"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["69880999_GRG"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004319","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Soluble B-cell maturation antigen (sBCMA), generated by shedding of the plasma-cell receptor BCMA\/TNFRSF17, is a circulating marker of plasma-cell burden in multiple myeloma (MM). We investigated whether early sBCMA kinetics capture treatment-induced changes in disease biology and predict subsequent Quality of Response (QoR) beyond free light chain (FLC)-based measures. In this prospective longitudinal study, 100 patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed MM starting treatment were evaluated at baseline, 1 month, and 6 months. sBCMA, involved FLC (iFLC), and involved-to-uninvolved FLC ratio (rFLC) were measured, and a 6-month response was assigned according to International Myeloma Working Group criteria. All biomarkers decreased significantly after treatment initiation (p &lt; 0.0001). Across disease-status cohorts, sBCMA, but not iFLC or rFLC, differed at baseline and showed significantly different 1-month percentage reductions. Larger early decreases in sBCMA, iFLC, and rFLC were associated with deeper 6-month responses. In ordinal logistic regression including the three biomarkers dichotomized by a 50% reduction threshold at 1 month, only sBCMA remained independently associated with QoR; patients with &lt;50% sBCMA reduction had higher odds of worse 6-month response (OR 5.44, 95% CI 1.58\u201318.76; p = 0.007). These findings support early sBCMA kinetics as a biologically informative marker for short-term response monitoring in MM.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27125286","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T06:53:10Z","timestamp":1781247190000},"page":"5286","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Early Soluble B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA\/TNFRSF17) Kinetics as a Molecular Biomarker of Treatment Response in Multiple Myeloma Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9597-9749","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Caponi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"},{"name":"Clinical Pathology Laboratory, Pisa University Hospital, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4291-8875","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Livia","family":"Del Giudice","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hematology Unit, Pisa University Hospital, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Ursino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alice","family":"Botti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Gennari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aldo","family":"Paolicchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"},{"name":"Clinical Pathology Laboratory, Pisa University Hospital, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7783-0262","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Riccardo","family":"Morganti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Statistical Section, Pisa University Hospital, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Buda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hematology Unit, Pisa University Hospital, 56126 Pisa, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1802","DOI":"10.1002\/ajh.27422","article-title":"Multiple myeloma: 2024 update on diagnosis, risk-stratification, and management","volume":"99","author":"Rajkumar","year":"2024","journal-title":"Am. 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