Abstract
The phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway is genetically targeted in more pathway components and in more tumor types than any other growth factor signaling pathway, and thus is frequently activated as a cancer driver. More importantly, the PI3K/AKT pathway is composed of multiple bifurcating and converging kinase cascades, providing many potential targets for cancer therapy. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a high-risk and high-mortality cancer that is notoriously resistant to traditional chemotherapies or radiotherapies. The PI3K/AKT pathway is modestly mutated but highly activated in RCC, representing a promising drug target. Indeed, PI3K pathway inhibitors of the rapalog family are approved for use in RCC. Recent large-scale integrated analyses of a large number of patients have provided a molecular basis for RCC, reiterating the critical role of the PI3K/AKT pathway in this cancer. In this review, we summarize the genetic alterations of the PI3K/AKT pathway in RCC as indicated in the latest large-scale genome sequencing data, as well as treatments for RCC that target the aberrant activated PI3K/AKT pathway.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 343-353 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Genetics and Genomics |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 20 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- AKT
- MTOR
- PI3K
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Targeted therapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics