Arnon Kater, MD, PhD, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, discusses chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-induced T-cell dysfunction and explains how understanding this process may help guide improvements for T-cell therapies. Currently, only a minority of patients respond effectively to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy because CLL cells induce T-cell dysfunction upon close contact. Prof. Kater explains that treatment with venetoclax or ibrutinib in combination with CAR T-cell therapy might help to solve this problem. In addition, recent data has shown that CD24 and CD52, two membrane factors expressed by CLL cells, might actively inhibit T-cell function in combination with SIGLEC10. Finally, Prof. Kater comments on the use of epigenetics to improve T-cell metabolic plasticity. This interview took place at the 4th Annual Meeting of the International Academy for Clinical Hematology (IACH), which took place virtually in 2021.