AKT1 and cancer: Another oncogenic signaling pathway identified in the study as being overactive in many different cancer types is the phosphoinositide-3-kinase–protein kinase B/Akt (PI3K-PKB/Akt) also known as the PI3K/Akt cell survival or pro-growth pathway.13 In response to conditions in the cellular environment, PI3K/Akt transduces a signal that can progress the cell cycle forward, stimulate nuclear gene transcription to increase the production of proteins and glucose needed to metabolically support increased cell growth, and ultimately influence cell survival.