13 EC cell lines were profiled for their PI3K pathway and KRAS mutational and PTEN protein status and treated with one MEK- and two PI3K- targeted inhibitors alone and in combination.
Endometrial Carcinoma Recurrence Score (ECARS) validates to identify aggressive disease and associates with markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and PI3K alterations.
Although molecular characterization has been reported to customize therapeutic strategies and thereby improve therapeutic outcomes in EC, none of the targeted agents investigated (antiangiogenic and mTOR/PI3K pathway inhibitor agents) have resulted in a change in clinical practice in HR-EC.
Blockage of PI3K/Akt cascade may become a potential and effective way to control endometrial carcinoma, especially in ER-negative cancers, which show no response to endocrinal therapy.
Deregulated signaling via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway is common in many types of cancer, but its clinicopathological significance in endometrial cancer remains unclear.
E2 stimulated cell proliferation and induced GPR30 expression and PI3K/Akt pathway activation in endometrial cancer cells, Ishikawa cells, and HEC-1A cells, whereas the expression of ERs remained unchangeable.
Expression profiling of 22 genes involved in PI3K-AKT signaling pathway was analyzed in 38 endometrial carcinomas using TaqMan low-density array (TLDA) analysis.
Focusing on ARID1A, we integrated mutation profiles with functional proteomics in 222 endometrial cancer samples, demonstrating that ARID1A mutations frequently co-occur with mutations in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway and are associated with PI3K pathway activation. siRNA knockdown in endometrial cancer cell lines increased AKT phosphorylation supporting ARID1A as a novel regulator of PI3K pathway activity.
Furthermore, genetic studies evaluated the effect of inflammatory cytokines secreted by visceral adipocytes in the modulation of angiogenesis and signaling pathways such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR, that result altered in the pathogenesis of EC.
Furthermore, HOTAIR activated the PI3K/Akt pathway to promote EC progression by suppressing PTEN <i>in vivo</i> Taking these results together, we revealed that high expression of HOTAIR promoted cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis through activating the PI3K/Akt pathway via binding to PTEN, which might provide a prognostic marker and therapeutic target of EC.
Furthermore, we identified that CCL18 derived from TAMs upregulated KIF5B expression to promote EMT via activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in endometrial cancer.
Identification of an endometrial cancer risk allele within a member of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, more commonly activated in tumors by somatic alterations, raises the possibility that well tolerated inhibitors targeting this pathway could be candidates for evaluation as chemopreventive agents in individuals at high risk of developing endometrial cancer.
Importantly, through western blot analysis, we found that inhibition of CLDN6 remarkably decreased p-AKT, p-PI3K, and mTOR expression level in EC HEC-1B cell line.
In breast, colon, and endometrial cancers in which the PI3K pathway is activated by a combination of mutant PIK3CA and alterations in Ras, ERBB2/3, or PTEN, signaling to downstream elements such as Akt was mediated exclusively by the p110alpha isoform, rather than a combination of different PI3K isoforms.
In this narrative review, we summarize the role and significance of PI3K-AKT-mTOR (PAM) pathway in ovarian and endometrial cancers, providing the most recent and relevant literature on the topic and addressing options for targeting PAM along with future perspectives of drug development.