AKT1 and neoplasm: Beyond its canonical SMAD-mediated pathway, TGF-β activates non-SMAD pathways, such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascades, which are essential for sustaining tumor cell survival, proliferation, and invasive traits [16,17,18].