MTOR and cancer: On the other hand, the combined induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) and the inhibition of the mTOR-associated AKT signalling pathway has also been reported to induce autophagy and apoptosis in studies by Shrivastava and colleagues [12], Murase et al. [49], and Elbaz et al. [50], while reducing cancer cell proliferation and cell survival through the inhibition of the NF-kB signalling pathway.