How does lenalidomide target the chronic lymphocytic leukemia microenvironment?

Immunotherapy has emerged as a viable clinical strategy to harness endogenous antitumor T-cell immunity. Lenalidomide is an oral immunomodulatory drug that repairs antitumor T-cell function and is showing efficacy in ongoing chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and lymphoma clinical trials. This article focuses on advances in our understanding of its mechanism of action in the tumor microenvironment and provides a clinical update in CLL. Challenges associated with this drug and its potential use in the targeted drug treatment era are discussed.