Immunomodulatory drug CC-5013 or CC-4047 and rituximab enhance antitumor activity in a severe combined immunodeficient mouse lymphoma model.

New thalidomide derivatives CC-5013 and CC-4047 (immunomodulatory drugs, IMiD) are up to 10,000 times more potent than Thalidomide. The biological effects of IMiDs are presumed to be mediated by (a) activation of some components of the innate [natural killer (NK) cells] or adoptive immune system (T cells), (b) modification of cytokine microenvironment in the tumor bed, or by (c) inhibition of angiogenesis. In this article, we tested an innovative combination strategy involving rituximab and IMiDs in aggressive lymphoma cell lines and human lymphoma xenografts.