Lenalidomide in the Treatment of Lymphoproliferative Disorders and Multiple Myeloma

Copyright © 2013 Anna Marina Liberati et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Immunomodulating agents (ImiDs) are a novel class of anti-cancer drugs that have demonstrated impressive antitumor activity in various malignant disorders. Of this class, most recent research has been focused on the remarkably active agent, lenalidomide. Lenalidomide was designed to enhance immunologic and anticancer properties while potentially decreasing neurotoxic and teratogenic adverse effects of the parent compound thalidomide. The introduction of this novel agent has broadened the therapeutic landscape of hemato-logic malignant disorders including multiple myeloma (MM) and, more recently, other B-cell neoplasms. In this issue, we focused on mechanisms of action and results from clinical investigation that report the relevance of lenalidomide for the treatment of B-cell disorders including MM, chronic lym-phocytic leukaemia (CLL), and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas by offering new mechanisms for targeting these diseases. In particular, papers defining the role of lenalidomide as part of the induction therapy before hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT) as well as its use as extended maintenance therapy post-HSTC in patients with MM will be of great interest. In this special issue, we invited papers on potential topics including, but are not limited to, lenalidomide: mechanism of action, lenalidomide as part of the induction therapy before HSCT and its use as consolidation and maintenance therapy of multiple myeloma, lenalidomide in chronic lym-phocytic leukaemia, lenalidomide in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and lenalidomide in mantle cell and low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Ten articles discuss the role of lenalidomide in the treatment of malignant disorders. The paper entitled " Lenalidomide in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma " by C. Thieblemont et al. presents the biological rational for the use of lenalidomide in DLBCL in light of recent advances in the pathophysiology of the disease and the therapeutic results of the most recent trials published in literature or reported in meetings in relapsed/refractory situations as well as in first-line treatment. The paper entitled " Practical approaches to the use of lenalidomide in multiple myeloma: a Canadian consensus " by D. Reece et al. discuss the use of lenalidomide in the management of RRMM in the Canadian environment. The Chair (DR) invited panelists to research and write individual sections of the paper. The various sections were collected, compiled, and distributed to the group, …