MTOR and cancer: It operates downstream of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (AKT) pathway and executes its biologic functions through two distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2.6,7 In many cancers, aberrant activation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway plays a crucial role in cancer cell proliferation and survival.