Here, we identify Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) and phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT as the down-stream pathways through which these cytokines confer resistance to cell death in thyroid cancer.
This genotype-based targeting of the PI3K/Akt pathway using Akt and mTOR inhibitors may offer an effective therapeutic strategy for thyroid cancer and warrants further studies.
Mutations in the PIK3CA have also been identified in thyroid cancers and, although relatively common in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, are uncommon in PTC.
We recently showed that autocrine production of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 controls thyroid cancer cell survival, growth, and resistance to chemotherapy through activation of Janus-activated kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) and phosphatidylinositide 3'-OH kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathways.
As in many other human cancers, overactivation of the phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway occurs frequently in thyroid cancer, but the mechanism is not completely clear.