Altered PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway and Cancer Stem Cells

PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalingPI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is an oncogenic pathway, which has a role in various cellular processes such as cell growth, proliferation, survival, and cell death. Mutations and/or alterations in the components of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway: receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (PI3K), phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), AKT and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) causes upregulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Thus, abnormal upregulation/activation of this pathway leads to carcinogenesis due to the changes in the cellular processes. The relation between the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalingPI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and cancer stem cells (CSCs) has been found in different cancer types as the signaling pathway can regulate CSCs. Due to the characteristics of CSCs such as heterogeneity or self-renewal, there have been challenges in the traditional cancer treatment options as they could be the reason for treatment failure. For that reason, there have been studies focusing on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway to target CSCs and overcome the challenges in cancer treatment.