AKT1 and cancer: Carcinogenesis or the development of cancer is a highly complex and heterogenic process orchestrated by a number of deregulated signal transduction pathways such as PI3K/Akt; Wnt/β-catenin; Notch; bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)/TGF-β; and Hedgehog, JAK/STAT, and NF-kB, etc. Generally, these signaling pathways play a central role in development and in survival processes of the multicellular organisms via regulation of the functioning of stem cells in response to environmental and biological stimuli.