title: PI3K and AKT: Unfaithful Partners in Cancer.
abstract: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway regulates multiple cellular processes. An overactivation of the pathway is frequently present in human malignancies and plays a key role in cancer progression. Hence, its inhibition has become a promising approach in cancer therapy. However, the development of resistances, such as the abrogation of negative feedback mechanisms or the activation of other proliferative signaling pathways, has considerably limited the anticancer efficacy of PI3K/AKT inhibitors. In addition, emerging evidence points out that although AKT is acknowledged as the major downstream effector of PI3K, both PI3K and AKT can operate independently of each other in cancer, revealing another level of complexity in this pathway. Here, we highlight the complex relationship between PI3K and AKT in cancer and further discuss the consequences of this relationship for cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Pavillon 4, Av. de Beaumont, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland. seraina.faes@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Seraina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faes
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Pavillon 4, Av. de Beaumont, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland. olivier.dormond@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dormond
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase / Q000378:metabolism*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
keywords: AKT; PI3K; cancer; signaling; therapies