The mTOR Signaling Pathway is an Emerging Therapeutic Target in Multiple Myeloma

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a PI3K-related serine/threonine kinase and plays a critical role in modulating proliferation, growth, survival, invasion and chemoresistance of multiple myeloma, a malignancy of plasma cells. Since it was identified as the therapeutic target of rapamycin, mTOR has been applied for anti-cancer drug discovery. More and more mTOR inhibitors have been developed and demonstrated with great clinical potentials for multiple myeloma and other cancers. In this review, we highlighted advances in drug discovery targeting the mTOR signaling pathway for the treatment of multiple myeloma with an input from our recent studies.