{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T08:28:29Z","timestamp":1787041709792,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786924800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int. J. Mol. Sci.","IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chimeric antigen receptor CAR T-cells are effective immunotherapies for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (r\/r DLBCL) with overall response rates of 63\u201384% and complete response rates of 43\u201354%. Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) is a cell surface receptor with immune check-point function. There are several common germline variants of the PDCD1 gene, including the linked single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) rs6710479 and rs2227981. Genetic variants of the immune-checkpoint regulator PDCD1 gene may affect clinical responses to CAR-T cell therapy. In this retrospective single-center study, we assessed the prevalence and outcomes of the PDCD1 gene variants rs6710479 and rs2227981 in r\/r DLBCL patients undergoing CAR-T cell therapy. The linked SNP\u2019s were prevalent in 68% of the studied DLBCL patients (CT-AG and TT-AA). In a retrospective comparative analysis, we observed differences in clinical outcomes in PDCD1 CC-GG versus CT-AG and TT-AA carriers with one-year PFS rates of 80% versus 50% and 48% (p = 0.01), and two-year OS rates of 74% versus 55% and 33%, respectively (p = 0.001). In conclusion, common PDCD1 germline variants may have influenced the treatment outcomes in FMC63-anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, and the PDCD1 major allele (CC-GG) may associate with a favorable response.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27167356","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T16:35:08Z","timestamp":1786984508000},"page":"7356","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Clinical Impact of a Common PDCD1 Germline Variant in DLBCL Patients Treated with CAR-T Cell Therapy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3128-1573","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katja","family":"Seipel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Biomedical Research, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Gon\u00e7alves Fonseca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Inna","family":"Shaforostova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1349-4922","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seok-Yun","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8771-947X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ulrike","family":"Bacher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6055-5257","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"Pabst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(18)30864-7","article-title":"Long-Term Safety and Activity of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel in Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma (ZUMA-1): A Single-Arm, Multicentre, Phase 1\u20132 Trial","volume":"20","author":"Locke","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet Oncol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2531","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1707447","article-title":"Axicabtagene Ciloleucel CAR T-Cell Therapy in Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma","volume":"377","author":"Neelapu","year":"2017","journal-title":"N. 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