Francesco Forconi, MD, PhD from the University of Southampton, Southampton, UK gives an overview of his talk on the structure and function of the B-cell receptor in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) held at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2016 Annual Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr Forconi also outlines why changes in the characteristics of the B-cell receptor affect the function and behavior of the tumor as well as how to target the receptor.