For example, researchers found that lactate secreted by esophageal cancer cells increased the levels of M2 polarization markers on the surface of TAMs, that the levels of phosphorylated AKT and phosphorylated ERK appeared to be markedly elevated in lactate-stimulated TAMs, and that the incorporation of oxalate (a well-recognized inhibitor of lactate) reversed these changes. Here, AKT1 is linked to esophageal cancer.