Table 1

Scoring pAkt expression determined by immunohistochemistry

Author/Reference
Method and cutoff level
Antibody (company)
Positive rate, type of cancer, (city)

Stål, et al. [37]
>10% strong staining in tumor cells
pAkt-Ser473 (Upstate Biotechnology, Lake Placid, NY, USA)
27%, breast cancer, (Stockholm, Sweden)
Kirkegaard, et al. [36]
Above median level of histoscore (inter-quartile range)
pAkt-Ser473 (Biosource International, Camarillo, CA, USA)
51%, breast cancer, (Glasgow, UK)
Tokunaga, et al. [33]
≥ 10% of cytoplasm staining
pAkt-Ser473 (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., Danvers, MA, USA)
34%, breast cancer, (Fukuoka, Japan)
Messersmith, et al. [39]
Quantify by Automated Cellular Imaging System (ACIS II, Chromavision, Inc). (combination of staining color, density, and darkness) as a continuous variable
pAkt-Ser473 (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.)
High level in tumor, colorectal cancer, (Maryland, USA)
Bose, et al. [40]
Scoring as 0 to 2 according to intensity; 2 (overexpression) means staining more than normal cells
pAkt-Ser473 (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.)
36%, breast cancer, (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
Massarelli, et al. [41]
More than 15% cytoplasm staining
pAkt-Ser473 (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.)
46%, tongue cancer, (Houston, TX, USA)
Ogino, et al. [42]
Tumor cells were scored as negative or positive, using normal epithelial cells and lymphocytes as reference
pAkt-Ser473 (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.)
14%, colorectal cancer, (Boston, MA, USA)
Schmitz, et al. [43]
More than 45% tumor cells staining in nuclei
pAkt-Ser473 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Santa Cruz, CA, USA)
88%, breast cancer, (Essen, Germany)
Our study
Combination of staining intensity and percentage of tumor cells as pAkt index, according to quartiles of pAkt index
pAkt-Ser473 (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.)
50%, breast cancer, (Los Angeles)

Wu et al. Breast Cancer Research 2008 10:R3   doi:10.1186/bcr1844