Since PKB/Akt is involved in such a multitude of apoptosis regulatory pathways, it is not surprising that Akt is overexpressed in a variety of human tumour cell lines and cancers (Bellacosa et al, 1995; Ringel et al, 2001; Roy et al, 2002) and a mediator of oestrogen resistance in breast cancer cells (Campbell et al, 2001). This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and breast carcinoma.