Preface Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases (PI3Ks) are critical coordinators of intracellular signaling in response to extracellular stimuli. Hyperactivation of PI3K signaling cascades is one of the most common events in human cancers. In this Review, we discuss recent advances in our knowledge of the roles of distinct PI3K isoforms in normal and oncogenic signaling, the different ways in which PI3K can be upregulated, and the current state and future potential of targeting this pathway in the clinic.

SUMMARY Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive form of breast cancer that exhibits extremely high levels of genetic complexity and yet a relatively uniform transcriptional program. We postulate that TNBC might be highly dependent on uninterrupted transcription of a key set of genes within this gene expression program and might therefore be exceptionally sensitive to inhibitors of transcription. Utilizing kinase inhibitors and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing, we show here that triple-negative but not hormone receptor-positive breast cancer cells are exceptionally dependent on CDK7, a transcriptional cyclin-dependent kinase. TNBC cells are unique in their dependence on this transcriptional CDK and suffer apoptotic cell death upon CDK7 inhibition. An “Achilles cluster” of TNBC-specific genes is especially sensitive to CDK7 inhibition and frequently associated with super-enhancers. We conclude that CDK7 mediates transcriptional addiction to a vital cluster of genes in TNBC and CDK7 inhibition may be a useful therapy for this challenging cancer.