Figure 1.

Schematic overview of select receptor tyrosine kinases involved in esophageal adenocarcinoma tumorigenesis. The intracellular signaling of the depicted receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) is primarily mediated by the RAS/RAF and PI3K/AKT pathways. Aberrant activation of these pathways ultimately favors tumor growth and survival. mTOR is a major downstream effector that is modulated by AKT signaling. Molecular therapies targeting RTKs either disrupt ligand binding or function to prevent intracellular activation of the tyrosine kinase domain.