Furthermore, we have previously shown that treatment with the natural product wortmannin resulted in decreased PKB/Akt phosphorylation in an orthotopic xenograft model of pancreas cancer, consistent with PI3K inhibition, and that combined treatment with wortmannin and gemcitabine resulted in greater acute induction of apoptosis, and improved tumour growth inhibition, compared to gemcitabine alone (Ng et al, 2001). This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and pancreatic neoplasm.