AKT1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Further investigations revealed that FOXK2 facilitates the development of HCC via the activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway; overexpression of FOXK2 resulted in a significant increase in the expression of phosphorylated Akt, survivin, c-Myc, p27, and CyclinD1 proteins, which was reversed following FOXK2 knockout.