Is phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway therapeutic target for esophageal adenocarcinoma

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the eleventh most common cause of cancer worldwide (459,299 cases) and the sixth most common cause of cancer mortality (439,000 deaths) (1). Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is one of the major histological types of EC with the rapidly rising incidence in the West. Molecularly targeted drugs that have produced modest advantage in EAC patients include trastuzumab (for patients with HER2 positive EAC) but VEGFR2 inhibitor, ramucirumab in combination with paclitaxel in the second-line setting (2,3). Other molecular biomarkers to select therapy are PD-L-1 and MSI status. However, data are preliminary and need to be pursued.