A review on the treatment of multiple myeloma with small molecular agents in the past five years

Multiple myeloma is currently incurable, and the incidence rate is increasing year by year worldwide. Although in recent years the combined treatment plan based on proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs has greatly improved the treatment effect of multiple myeloma, most patients still relapse and become resistant to current treatments. To solve this problem, scientists are committed to developing drugs with higher specificity, such as iberdomide, which is highly specific to ikaros and aiolos. This review aims to focus on the small molecular agents that are being researched/clinically used for the treatment of multiple myeloma, including the target mechanism, structure-activity relationship and application prospects of small molecular agents. [Display omitted] •Summarize the small molecule agents commonly used to treat MM in the past 5 years.•Highly specific drugs can alleviate the problem of relapse or resistance.•HDAC6 inhibitors are safer and can overcome bortezomib resistance.•Kinase inhibitors are a good therapeutic target, but safety is an issue worthy of further investigation.