Chemotherapy: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Targeting the PI3K/AKT Pathway for the Treatment of Gastric Cancer

Yuyan Liu, Sunrong Sun, Juanjuan Li and De-Hua Yu

Gastric Cancer (GC) is the fourth most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer deaths,accounting for 10% of global cancer mortalities. Despite the progress made in recent years, the prognosis forpatients with advanced-stage GC remains poor. In the metastatic setting, chemotherapy is the primary choice forpalliative therapy and results in Objective Response Rates (ORRs) of only 20-40% and median Overall Survivals(OSs) of 8–10 months. Emerging evidence suggests that the aberrant activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/AKT signaling is one of the most common molecular events involved in the resistance to current systemictherapies for GC.A number of small molecule inhibitors targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway are currently under clinicalevaluation for the treatment of various malignancies, including GC. In this paper, we review the current clinicalpractice and discuss the potential use of inhibitors targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway, either alone or in combinationwith current therapies for the treatment of advanced GC.