Advance in research on the relationship between mTOR signaling pathway and tumors

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that is centrally involved in the control of cell growth, proliferation, differentiation and cell cycle regulation. Recent studies have found that the mTOR pathway is complicated and the dysregulation of mTOR pathway is recognized to be associated with lots of tumors. Several inhibitors of mTOR could inhibit oncogene transformation, growth and angiogenesis of tumors. So far, four inhibitors of mTOR have been tested in clinical trials, and some have been accessed to phase II or III trial. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the regulators that govern mTOR pathway activity, and highlight clinical results obtained with the first generation of mTOR inhibitors to reach the oncology clinics.