Abstract
Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine-threonine kinase member of the cellular phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, which is involved in multiple biologic functions such as transcriptional and translational control. mTOR is a downstream mediator in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and plays a critical role in cell survival. In breast cancer this pathway can be activated by membrane receptors, including the HER (or ErbB) family of growth factor receptors, the insulin-like growth factor receptor, and the estrogen receptor. There is evidence suggesting that Akt promotes breast cancer cell survival and resistance to chemotherapy, trastuzumab, and tamoxifen. Rapamycin is a specific mTOR antagonist that targets this pathway and blocks the downstream signaling elements, resulting in cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase. Targeting the Akt/PI3K pathway with mTOR antagonists may increase the therapeutic efficacy of breast cancer therapy.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 219-224 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Breast Cancer Research |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- CCI-779
- Epidermal factor receptor
- Mammalian target of rapamycin
- PTEN
- Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research