Concomitant with TRIB2 status, we found that pSer473-AKT1 and pSer253-FOXO3a protein levels were significantly higher, while the transcript and protein levels of the FOXO-dependent genes BIM, FasLG and TRAIL were significantly lower in ex vivo melanoma samples compared to normal control tissue samples. The gene discussed is TRIB2; the disease is melanoma.