Bioinformatics analysis of gene expression profile of the I3 cells, followed by confirmation of increased phosphorylated-AKT (p-AKT) expression in I3 cells and in metastatic ESCC in lymph nodes, suggested that the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway has a crucial role in esophageal cancer invasion and metastasis. This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and esophageal cancer.