tRXRα-mediated activation of the TNFα/PI3K/AKT pathway significantly promotes cancer cell growth both in vitro and in vivo (Zhou et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2013), providing a potential approach to inhibit cancer cell growth by targeting tRXRα with small molecules to inhibit TNFα/PI3K/AKT survival pathway. The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is cancer.