PIK3CA

Description

PIK3CA is the most recurrently mutated gene in breast cancer, and has been found to important in a number of cancer types. An integral part of the PI3K pathway, PIK3CA has long been described as an oncogene, with two main hotspots for activating mutations, the 542/545 region of the helical domain, and the 1047 region of the kinase domain. PIK3CA, and its interaction with the AKT and mTOR pathways, is the subject of an immense amount of research and development, and PI3K inhibition has seen some limited success in recent clinical trials. While monotherapies seem to be limited in their potential, there is a recent interest in pursuing PI3K inhibition as part of a combination therapy regiment with inhibition partners including TKI's, MEK inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, and in breast cancer, aromatase inhibitors.