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The PI3K/AKT Pathway as a Target for Cancer Treatment

Ingrid A Mayer1, Carlos L Arteaga1

  • 1Departments 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.

Annual Review of Medicine
|October 17, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Targeted cancer therapies focus on tumor vulnerabilities, often involving the frequently altered phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. Drugs targeting this pathway are in clinical trials for various cancers.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Anticancer targeted therapies exploit tumor-specific vulnerabilities, frequently linked to oncogenes or tumor suppressor loss.
  • The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway is significantly altered in human cancers.
  • Aberrant PI3K/AKT pathway activation drives cancer development, progression, and resistance to therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current anticancer targeted therapies.
  • To focus on drugs targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway.
  • To discuss the role of PI3K/AKT pathway alterations in cancer.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of targeted therapies.
  • Analysis of PI3K/AKT pathway alterations in cancer.
  • Summary of drugs targeting PI3K/AKT in clinical trials.

Main Results:

  • The PI3K/AKT pathway is a common target in cancer due to frequent alterations.
  • Several drugs targeting PI3K/AKT are under investigation.
  • These targeted therapies are being evaluated in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

Conclusions:

  • Targeted therapies focusing on the PI3K/AKT pathway hold promise for cancer treatment.
  • Drugs inhibiting the PI3K/AKT pathway are a key area of ongoing clinical research.
  • Understanding PI3K/AKT pathway alterations is crucial for developing effective cancer drugs.
Keywords:
breast cancerlymphoproliferative disordersmammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)mutationpathway inhibitorsphosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT

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