{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T07:48:24Z","timestamp":1791877704358,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Egyptian Association of Immunologists","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EJI"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma-cell malignancy in which immune-evasion mechanisms may contribute to disease progression. Soluble programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been associated with adverse outcomes in MM, but its prognostic significance before and after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains incompletely defined. To evaluate serum PD-L1 concentrations before and six months after ASCT and to assess their associations with clinical outcomes, including overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), relapse, and graft failure. This prospective observational study included 40 transplant-eligible patients with MM treated at the Ain Shams University Bone Marrow Center. Serum PD-L1 was measured by ELISA before ASCT and six months after transplantation. Clinical outcomes were assessed during follow-up through 180 days, and associations with survival and adverse outcomes were evaluated using correlation analysis, Kaplan\u2013Meier survival analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Pre- and post-transplant PD-L1 levels were negatively correlated with OS (pre: r = \u22120.44, p = 0.004; post: r = \u22120.48, p = 0.002). Patients with relapse had higher pre- and post-transplant PD-L1 levels than those without relapse (119.2 vs. 74.6 pg\/mL, p = 0.01; and 184.4 vs. 63.4 pg\/mL, p = 0.01, respectively). Post-transplant PD-L1 was higher in patients with graft failure than in those without graft failure (178.7 vs. 87.5 pg\/mL, p = 0.008). Kaplan\u2013Meier analysis showed poorer OS and DFS among patients with higher PD-L1 according to the study cutoffs. In conclusion, higher serum PD-L1 levels before and after ASCT were associated with adverse clinical outcomes in this cohort. Given the small sample size, limited follow-up, single-center design, and multiple unadjusted comparisons, these findings should be considered exploratory and require validation in larger studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.55133\/eji.330412","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T07:18:06Z","timestamp":1791875886000},"page":"131-143","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Elevated serum soluble PD-L1 is associated with adverse outcomes after autologous stem cell transplantation in transplant-eligible multiple myeloma patients"],"prefix":"10.55133","volume":"33","author":[{"given":"Merna","family":"Fathy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine & Clinical Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"33636","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"container-title":["The Egyptian journal of Immunology"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T07:18:07Z","timestamp":1791875887000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ejimmunology.org\/eji_33_04_2026_12\/"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.55133\/eji.330412","relation":{},"ISSN":["1110-4902","2090-2506"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1110-4902","type":"print"},{"value":"2090-2506","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]}}}