AKT1 and squamous cell carcinoma: showed that the activation of KRAS-downstream pathway PI3K/AKT/mTOR is tightly linked with the regulation of PD-L1 expression both in vitro and in vivo for human LACs and squamous cell carcinomas, indicating that KRAS may cause immune escape by AKT/mTOR pathway via PD-L1 (36).Our findings demonstrated that the 10-gene signature have a close relationship with macrophage M2, which indicates that macrophage M2 might be involved in progression and poor survival outcomes in ESCC.