Novel therapeutic strategies targeting resistance mechanisms in hematologic malignancies: from BCL2 inhibition to immunomodulatory approaches.

[BACKGROUND] Hematologic malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and multiple myeloma (MM), are characterized by high relapse rates due to intrinsic and acquired drug resistance. Resistance mechanisms often involve dysregulation of apoptosis pathways, such as B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) family overexpression, and immune evasion through microenvironment modulation.

[PURPOSE] This review synthesizes recent advances (2020-2025) in therapeutic strategies targeting these mechanisms, focusing on BCL2 inhibition and immunomodulatory approaches to overcome resistance and improve outcomes.

[METHODS] We systematically reviewed literature from PubMed, Nature, and other databases, emphasizing clinical trials, mechanistic studies, and emerging combinations published between 2020 and 2025. Main Findings: BCL2 inhibitors like venetoclax have achieved high response rates (ORR >70%) in CLL and AML but face resistance MCL1/BCL-XL upregulation. Next-generation agents (e.g., sonrotoclax) and combinations address this. Immunomodulatory therapies, including immunomodulatory imide drugs (IMiDs) and chimeric antigen receptor T-Cell immunotherapy (CAR-T cells), enhance T/NK cell activity, with objective response rate (ORR) up to 90% in relapsed MM. Integrated strategies combining BCL2 inhibition with immunotherapy show synergistic effects, improving progression-free survival (PFS) by 30%-40%.

[CONCLUSION] These strategies represent a paradigm shift toward precision medicine, but challenges like toxicity and biomarker-driven resistance persist. Future directions include AI-guided predictions and novel degraders like proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs).