Substantial improvement in the understanding of the oncogenic pathways in thyroid cancer has led to identification of specific molecular alterations, including mutations of BRAF and RET in papillary thyroid cancer, mutation of RAS and rearrangement of PPARG in follicular thyroid cancer, mutation of RET in medullary thyroid cancer, and mutations of TP53 and in the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)/AKT1 pathway in anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Mice with overactivation of the phosphatidylinol-3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT and/or thyrotropin-regulated signaling pathways have been found to develop follicular thyroid cancer.
APP regulation was studied in vitro in differentiated (FRTL-5) and dedifferentiated follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTC-133) thyroid cells after specific inhibition or activation of the cAMP-PKA, the PI3K/AKT or the protein kinase c (PKC) cascades.
Similarly, there is increasing evidence demonstrating that mutations leading to activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase (PI3K)/AKT effectors -PTEN and PI3KCa- are essential for the pathogenesis of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC).