In contrast to a previous study, in which the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway was shown to be involved in anti-cancer agent-induced autophagy in glioma (Sami and Karsy 2013), we found that ABA-induced autophagy in glioblastoma cells is independent of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway. Here, AKT1 is linked to central nervous system cancer.