Table 1 Scoring pAkt expression determined by immunohistochemistry

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)