Fig. 1.

Comparison of immune cell populations between healthy donors (HD), newly diagnosed MM (NDMM), and relapsed-refractory MM (RRMM). FACS plots show representative cell fractions in one healthy donor, one NDMM patient, and one RRMM patient. Blood samples for RRMM were taken before administration of Len-dex. The frequency of CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺ T cells (a), natural killer (NK) cells (CD16⁺CD56⁺), NKT-like cells (CD3⁺CD56⁺) (b), and MDSCs (G-MDSC and M-MDSC) (c) was compared between HD, NDMM, and RRMM. Data (right panel) are presented as mean ± SEM. ANOVA was applied to determine whether there were significant differences between the groups and the Scheffé test was used to analyze groups that showed differences. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01