AKT1 and Merkel cell skin cancer: To compare the level of AKT activation in MCC with other skin cancers, we additionally performed immunohistochemical staining for pAKT T308 in 67 malignant melanomas, a tumor with established frequent AKT pathway activation [18], [19], and 45 basal cell carcinomas which have been shown to be characterized by only low levels of phospho-AKT [20], [21].