AKT1 and non-small cell lung carcinoma: As shown in Fig. 4 results, PI3K/Akt pathway was activated in NSCLC CSCs with CT treatment, and overexpression of TAZ just partially reversed the inhibitory effects of CT (Fig. 5), demonstrating that CT may attenuate the stemness of NSCLC CSCs through other pathways, such as PI3K/Akt.