In another study, inhibition of HH signaling greatly decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis via suppression of the PI3K/AKT pathway and markedly inhibited EMT by suppressing activation of the transcription factors Snail and Slug, whose expression is correlated with pancreatic cancer cell invasion, suggesting that the HH signaling pathway is involved in the early stages of metastasis [87]. This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and pancreatic neoplasm.