Levistolide A is a naturally occurring compound isolated from Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat cancer. Levistolide has been studied in vitro against cell models for colon cancer and breast cancer. It was effective at inducing ER programmed apoptosis in colon cancer cells. In a cell model for breast cancer, levistolide was shown to enhance the apoptotic effects of adriamycin and vincristine. The effect of levistomide is correlated with cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase PARP and up-regulation of caspase-3.

A-443654 is a potent and selective AKT inhibitor. A-443654 induces rapid Akt Ser-473 phosphorylation independent of mTORC1 inhibition. A-443654 interferes with mitotic progression by regulating aurora a kinase expression. A-443654 inhibits all three Akt isoforms in FL5.12 cells stably transfected with constitutively active myristoylated Akt1/2/3, and showed moderate selectivity when screened against related kinases in the AGC family, such as PKA and PKC20. A-443654 has being shown to extend survival in an intracranial glioma animal model. A-443654, either alone or in combination with existing drugs, may be a useful therapy for primary and drug-resistant T-ALL.