Synergistic inhibition of ovarian cancer cell growth by combining selective PI3K/mTOR and RAS/ERK pathway inhibitors

Background: Ovarian cancer is the major cause of death from gynaecological malignancy with a 5 year survival of only � 30% due to resistance to platinum and paclit- axel-based first line therapy. Dysregulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) and RAS/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways is common in ovarian cancer, providing potential new targets for 2nd line therapy.