# mTOR

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/mtor/  
OnCo record `mtor` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

mTOR is the cell's master growth controller, deciding whether to build proteins and divide. Rapamycin-like drugs clamp it down in kidney, breast and neuroendocrine cancers and in rare tumours driven by TSC gene loss.

## Summary

The mechanistic target of rapamycin is a serine/threonine kinase in two complexes: mTORC1 (with raptor) integrates growth-factor, nutrient and energy signals to control translation via S6K and 4E-BP1, and mTORC2 (with rictor) activates AKT. It is the downstream effector of the PI3K-AKT pathway and is hyperactivated by PIK3CA, PTEN and TSC1/2 alterations. Allosteric mTORC1 inhibitors (rapalogues) are approved: everolimus for renal cell carcinoma, HR-positive breast cancer, neuroendocrine tumours and TSC-associated tumours; temsirolimus for renal cell carcinoma; and albumin-bound sirolimus (Fyarro) for malignant PEComa. ATP-competitive dual mTORC1/2 and PI3K/mTOR inhibitors have not yet reached approval in cancer.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: kinase
- Symbol: MTOR
- Class: kinase
- Biology: Rapalogues bind FKBP12 and allosterically inhibit mTORC1; feedback activation of AKT and incomplete 4E-BP1 inhibition explain modest single-agent activity. Stomatitis, hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidaemia and non-infectious pneumonitis are class effects.
- Where found: Renal cell carcinoma; HR-positive breast cancer (endocrine resistance); Pancreatic and lung neuroendocrine tumours; Malignant PEComa and TSC-associated tumours (TSC1/2 loss)

## Notes

- mTOR is expressed in all cells and rapalogues are not selected on mTOR status, so the RCC row records the MTOR mutation rate rather than expression. No MTOR-specific series with a stated denominator was found for HR-positive breast cancer, neuroendocrine tumours or sarcoma; Jiao 2011 found mutations in mTOR-pathway genes (PTEN, TSC2, PIK3CA) rather than MTOR itself in 14% of 68 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (doi:10.1126/science.1200609).

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTOR
- NCBI Gene MTOR: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/2475

## Connected records

- cancers: [Epithelioid haemangioendothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/epithelioid-haemangioendothelioma/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Lung neuroendocrine tumours (typical and atypical carcinoid)](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-net/), [Meningioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/meningioma/), [Neuroendocrine tumours](https://onco.cc/cancers/neuroendocrine/), [Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic-net/), [Perivascular epithelioid cell tumour (PEComa)](https://onco.cc/cancers/pecoma/), [Renal cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/rcc/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/), [Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumours](https://onco.cc/cancers/small-intestinal-net/)
- technologies: [PI3K, AKT and mTOR inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/pi3k-akt-mtor-inhibitors/)
- drugs: [Everolimus](https://onco.cc/drugs/everolimus/), [Sapanisertib](https://onco.cc/drugs/sapanisertib/), [Sirolimus](https://onco.cc/drugs/sirolimus/), [Sirolimus protein-bound particles](https://onco.cc/drugs/sirolimus-albumin-bound/), [Temsirolimus](https://onco.cc/drugs/temsirolimus/)
- pathways: [Choline metabolism in cancer](https://onco.cc/pathways/choline-metabolism-in-cancer/), [Hepatocellular carcinoma (KEGG map)](https://onco.cc/pathways/hepatocellular-carcinoma-signalling/), [PI3K / AKT / mTOR](https://onco.cc/pathways/pi3k-akt-mtor/), [Renal cell carcinoma (KEGG map)](https://onco.cc/pathways/renal-cell-carcinoma-signalling/)
- trials: [AMPECT](https://onco.cc/trials/ampect/), [TUMORAPA (switching from a calcineurin inhibitor to sirolimus after a transplant skin cancer)](https://onco.cc/trials/tumorapa/)
- targets: [FKBP12 (FKBP1A)](https://onco.cc/targets/fkbp12/), [HIF-1α (HIF1A)](https://onco.cc/targets/hif1a/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/mtor.json