MTOR and hepatocellular carcinoma: To determine the effects of inhibition of members of the PI3K pathway on α-TEA-induced apoptosis, HCC-1954 and MCF-7 cells were cultured with 10 and 20 μMα-TEA, respectively, plus 1 μM PI3K inhibitor (PI3KI) wortmannin, 10 μM MEK inhibitor (MEKI) U01260, and 50 nM mTOR inhibitor (mTORI) rapamycin for 18 h.