Schmitt and colleagues demonstrated a cachexia-associated loss of Akt-dependent signaling in human skeletal muscle of cachectic patients compared to non-cachectic patients, using muscle biopsies from 16 PDAC patients undergoing pancreatectomy. Notably, AKT1 is a highly polymorphic gene, and functional SNPs might affect Akt1 levels and influence apoptosis induction. However, previous studies reported controversial relationship between miR-21 expression and PTEN regulation, both in the preclinical and clinical setting, as well as on the functional role of candidate AKT1 SNPs. More genotype-phenotype correlation studies and functional analyses of other critical genes involved in the Akt1 pathway are warranted. Further research to elucidate the intricate mechanisms involved in the induction and maintenance of PDAC cachexia, should aid in the development of future therapeutic targets. In Pardoprunox Hydrochloride particular, it remains to be determined if modulation of phospho-Akt by specific drugs might alter the development of cachexia. Akt1 might indeed be a candidate therapeutic target in cancer cachexia and even survival of PDAC, after the selection of the patients according to their genotype. A major strength of the present study is that it was carried out in a homogeneous setting of patients with pancreatic cancer. The results of multivariate analysis indicate the noteworthiness of the prognostic role of AKT1-rs1130233. Moreover, the minor allele frequency of this polymorphism in a random Caucasian population is frequent. Thus, these findings might be relevant to a large number of patients. Conversely, the main limitations of this study include the retrospective explorative study design and the lack of prospective randomized studies on the potential predictive role of AKT1-rs1130233 for chemotherapy activity. Hibernation is a survival strategy for some mammals against the food deprivation in winter. The body temperature, metabolic rate, heart beats, and oxygen consumption of some small hibernators are JZL 195 remarkably reduced during hibernation, however no neural damage is observed in the brain of hibernators after arousal from torpor.