AKT1 and cancer: Functional activation of these receptors results in the upregulation of the INSR substrate 1 (IRS1), that triggers signaling pathways downstream of the mitogenic-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway and the phosphoinositide-3 kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt), two of the most important signaling cascades frequently dysregulated in cancer (Figure 3).