Targeting Akt in cell transfer immunotherapy for cancer

Pharmacologic inhibitors of the serine/threonine kinase Akt, initially aimed at deranged oncogenic pathways in tumors, have recently been shown to act as immunomodulators that markedly enhance the antitumor properties of T cells. Repurposing Akt inhibitors to improve antitumor immunity may be viewed as a manifestation of a larger paradigmatic shift in which hallmark characteristics of cancer (e.g., immune evasion), rather than merely causal features (e.g., somatic mutations) can be exploited for therapeutic benefit.