TY - JOUR T1 - Gene of the month: <em>STK11</em> JF - Journal of Clinical Pathology JO - J Clin Pathol SP - 681 LP - 685 DO - 10.1136/jclinpath-2021-207906 VL - 74 IS - 11 AU - Roman E Zyla AU - Elan Hahn AU - Anjelica Hodgson Y1 - 2021/11/01 UR - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/74/11/681.abstract N2 - STK11 encodes for the protein liver kinase B1, a serine/threonine kinase which is involved in a number of physiological processes including regulation of cellular metabolism, cell polarity and the DNA damage response. It acts as a tumour suppressor via multiple mechanisms, most classically through AMP-activated protein kinase-mediated inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin signalling pathway. Germline loss-of-function mutations in STK11 give rise to Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, which is associated with hamartomatous polyps of the gastrointestinal tract, mucocutaneous pigmentation and a substantially increased lifetime risk of many cancers. In the sporadic setting, STK11 mutations are commonly seen in a subset of adenocarcinomas of the lung in addition to a number of other tumours occurring at various sites. Mutations in STK11 have been associated with worse prognoses across a range of malignancies and may be a predictor of poor response to immunotherapy in a subset of lung cancers, though further studies are needed before the presence of STK11 mutations can be implemented as a routine clinical biomarker. ER -