Should individual PI3 kinase isoforms be targeted in cancer?

Activation of the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway is frequently found in common human cancers, brought about by oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) acting upstream, PTEN loss, or activating mutations of PI3K itself. Recent studies have delineated distinct but overlapping functions in cell signaling and tumorigenesis for p110 alpha and p110 beta, the two major catalytic subunits of PI3K expressed in the tissues of origin for the common tumor types. In most cell types studied, p110 alpha carries the majority of the PI3K signal in classic RTK signal transcluction, while p110 beta responds to GPCRs. Both p11 alpha and p110 beta function in cellular transformation induced by alterations in components of PI3K pathway. Specifically, p110 alpha is essential for the signaling and growth of tumors driven by PIK3CA mutations and/or oncogenic RTKs/Ras, whereas p110 beta is the major isoform in mediating PTEN-deficient tumorigenesis. While pan-PI3K inhibitors are currently being tested in the clinic, p110 isoform-specific inhibition holds promise as a therapeutic strategy.