MTOR and cancer: This provides valuable insight into the unpredictable results of mTORC1 inhibition in clinical trials for cancer treatment: while mTORC1 inhibition weakens cancer growth by several mechanisms (inhibiting macromolecular synthesis, inducing autophagy and diminishing the mTOR-dependent survival mechanism for chemotherapy [130]), it also perversely acts to promote cancer cell survival through constitutive activation of Akt.