Abstract: Protein arginine methyltransferases, which proceed the post-translational modification of both histones and non-histones, play an important role in many biological pathways. Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) is a major enzyme responsible for symmetric di-methylation of arginine residues and has been suggested as a potential therapeutic target for tumors.In the past decade,the discovery and development of PRMT5 inhibitors have become one of the most important research fields.This article introduces the structure and biochemical function of PRMT5 and its correlation with cancer reviews, the binding modes and biological data of PRMT5 inhibitors under development, and discusses the clinical application potential of PRMT5 inhibitors in the treatment of cancer.