# PTEN

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

## TL;DR

PTEN is the brake on the PI3K growth pathway; when a tumour loses it the pathway runs unchecked, which is why PTEN loss now selects patients for the AKT inhibitor capivasertib.

## Summary

PTEN is a lipid phosphatase that converts PIP3 back to PIP2, opposing PI3K and switching off AKT signalling. Loss through deletion, mutation or promoter silencing is common in prostate, endometrial, breast and brain tumours and in Cowden syndrome when inherited. Capivasertib's labels name PTEN alterations (with PIK3CA and AKT1) in breast cancer and PTEN deficiency by immunohistochemistry in prostate cancer, so the readout pages under this target carry both the sequencing and the IHC rules.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: phosphatase and tensin homolog; MMAC1; TEP1
- Tags: biomarker-parent; tumor-suppressor
- Symbol: PTEN
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: PTEN loss raises PIP3 and constitutively activates AKT and mTOR; it also has nuclear roles in genome stability, so PTEN-null tumours accumulate further damage.
- Where found: Prostate cancer (loss in about 40 percent of metastatic disease); Endometrial cancer; Glioblastoma; Breast cancer (PI3K pathway alterations)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTEN_(gene)
- HGNC HGNC:9588: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:9588
- UniProt P60484: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P60484/entry

## Connected records

- biomarkers: [PTEN alteration (sequencing) and PTEN loss (IHC)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/pten-alteration/)
- cancers: [Endometrial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/endometrial/), [Glioma & glioblastoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/glioblastoma/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate-mhspc/)
- drugs: [Capivasertib](https://onco.cc/drugs/capivasertib/)
- terms: [PTEN loss](https://onco.cc/terms/pten-loss/)
- collections: [CIViC](https://onco.cc/collections/civic/), [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/), [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)

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