ILK and neoplasm: Moreover, ILK upregulation has been reported to be a cellular response to various stimuli in the tumor environment leading to activation of Akt signaling in cancer cells, including human leukemic cells co-cultured with bone marrow-derived stromal cells [27], hepatocellular or renal carcinoma cells exposed to hypoxia [64], ovarian cancer cells treated with peritoneal tumor fluids [17], and MDA-MB-231 cells undergoing transforming growth factor β-1-induced EMT [52].