AKR1B1 and cancer: While the most studied enzyme of the AKR1B subfamily is AKR1B1, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes complications and inflammatory disease [10,11], many studies of AKR1B10 have focused on its association with cancers and other diseases since its overexpression in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) was found in 1998 [12].