title: Molecular targets for cancer therapy in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.
abstract: Aberrations in various cellular signaling pathways are instrumental in regulating cellular metabolism, tumor development, growth, proliferation, metastasis and cytoskeletal reorganization. The fundamental cellular signaling cascade involved in these processes, the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR), closely related to the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, is a crucial and intensively explored intracellular signaling pathway in tumorigenesis. Various activating mutations in oncogenes together with the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes are found in diverse malignancies across almost all members of the pathway. Substantial progress in uncovering PI3K/AKT/mTOR alterations and their roles in tumorigenesis has enabled the development of novel targeted molecules with potential for developing efficacious anticancer treatment. Two approved anticancer drugs, everolimus and temsirolimus, exemplify targeted inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR in the clinic and many others are in preclinical development as well as being tested in early clinical trials for many different types of cancer. This review focuses on targeted PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling from the perspective of novel molecular targets for cancer therapy found in key pathway members and their corresponding experimental therapeutic agents. Various aberrant prognostic and predictive biomarkers are also discussed and examples are given. Novel approaches to PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibition together with a better understanding of prognostic and predictive markers have the potential to significantly improve the future care of cancer patients in the current era of personalized cancer medicine.
authors: Department of Histology and Embryology and Biomedical Centre, Faculty of Medicine Plzen, Charles University Prague, Husova 3, 301 66 Plzen, Czech Republic; Department of Neurology, Faculty Hospital Plzen, Alej Svobody 80, 304 60 Plzen, Czech Republic.
authors: Jiri
authors: J
authors: Polivka
authors: Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Clinical Trials Program), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: fjanku@mdanderson.org.
authors: Filip
authors: F
authors: Janku
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: PI3K pathway; Predictive biomarkers; Targeted therapy