Akt signaling and cancer: surviving but not moving on.
The frequent deregulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt survival signaling pathway in cancer has prompted significant interest in blocking this pathway to treat cancer. Recently, however, two studies have shown that the Akt isoform Akt1 limits the invasive migration of breast cancer cells. These studies suggest that Akt1 may have a dual role in tumorigenesis, acting not only pro-oncogenically by suppressing apoptosis but also anti-oncogenically by suppressing invasion and metastasis. We discuss the possible implications of these findings for therapeutic development of Akt inhibitors to treat cancer.
Toker
Alex
A
Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02215, USA. atoker@bidmc.harvard.edu
Yoeli-Lerner
Merav
M
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt