title: The PI3K/AKT Pathway as a Target for Cancer Treatment.
abstract: Anticancer targeted therapies are designed to exploit a particular vulnerability in the tumor, which in most cases results from its dependence on an oncogene and/or loss of a tumor suppressor. Genes in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway are the most frequently altered in human cancers. Aberrant activation of this pathway, as a result of these somatic alterations, is associated with cellular transformation, tumorigenesis, cancer progression, and drug resistance. Several drugs targeting PI3K/ATK are currently in clinical trials, alone or in combination, in both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. These drugs are the focus of this review.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Cancer Biology; Breast Cancer Program, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232; email: ingrid.mayer@vanderbilt.edu , carlos.arteaga@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Ingrid A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Cancer Biology; Breast Cancer Program, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232; email: ingrid.mayer@vanderbilt.edu , carlos.arteaga@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Carlos L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Arteaga
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008232:Lymphoproliferative Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D058539:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; C546842:MTOR protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human
keywords: breast cancer; lymphoproliferative disorders; mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR); mutation; pathway inhibitors; phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT