AKT1 and cancer: Serine/threonine kinase protein kinase B (PKB/Akt)-mediated signaling is critical for proliferation, survival, metabolism, and metastasis of cancer cells [13] and is triggered by class IA phosphatidylinositol 3–kinase (PI3K) induction of the generation of phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3) [14].