DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of multiple myeloma

  • Disease progression or relapsed disease after prior allogeneic stem cell transplantation from a matched or mismatched related or unrelated donor

    • Relapsed disease is defined as reappearance of monoclonal protein in serum or urine by immunofixation, new or increased bone lesions, or hypercalcemia
    • Disease progression is defined as a 25% increase in monoclonal protein in serum, a 50% increase in 24-hour urinary monoclonal protein from the lowest level attained at any time point after prior allogeneic stem cell transplantation, or new or increased bone lesions or hypercalcemia

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status 0-2
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 50,000/mm³
• Serum creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
• Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
• AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (5 times ULN if hepatic metastases are present)
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective double-method contraception at least 28 days before, during, and for at least 28 days after completion of study treatment
• Must be registered into the mandatory RevAssist® program and be willing and able to comply with the requirements of RevAssist®
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except currently treated basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or carcinoma in situ of the cervix or breast
• No serious medical condition, laboratory abnormality, or psychiatric illness that would prevent the subject from signing the informed consent form
• No condition, including the presence of laboratory abnormalities, which places the subject at unacceptable risk to participate in the study or confounds the ability to interpret data from the study
• No known hypersensitivity to thalidomide
• No prior development of erythema nodosum if characterized by a desquamating rash while taking thalidomide or similar drugs
• No resistance to prior lenalidomide
• No known HIV positivity or type A, B, or C infectious hepatitis
• No acute grade 3 or 4 GVHD

• Must be able to take aspirin (81 or 325 mg daily) as prophylactic anticoagulation

  • Patients intolerant to aspirin may use coumadin or low molecular weight heparin

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 4 weeks since prior cancer therapy, including radiotherapy, hormonal therapy, or surgery (excluding corticosteroids for graft-versus-host disease [GVHD])
• At least 4 weeks since other prior experimental drug or therapy
• No concurrent sargramostim (GM-CSF)

• No concurrent investigational GVHD drugs

  • Patients may remain on medications for GVHD including prednisone, which may be adjusted for clearly worsening GVHD
• No other concurrent anticancer therapies including radiation, thalidomide, or other investigational agents (except prednisone for ongoing GVHD)