Consistently with the link between the Na +/K+-ATPase pump and the PI3K/AKT pathway previously described in several cancer cell lines22,45–47, also in our study we observed that the decreased expression of ATP1B3 and ATP1A1 subunits was associated with decreased expression of PI3K, pSer473AKT, pSer9GSK3β and with downregulation of β-catenin. This evidence concerns the gene ATP1A1 and cancer.