PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes a phosphatase converting the lipid messenger PIP3 back to PIP2 at the cell membrane, thereby restraining the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway that drives cell growth, proliferation, and survival. It is one of the most frequently mutated genes across many types of human cancer, and its loss promotes unchecked cell growth, survival, and genomic instability, partly through impaired DNA repair. Germline loss-of-function variants in PTEN cause Cowden syndrome, an inherited cancer predisposition disorder associated with elevated risk of breast and thyroid cancer.

This 5′-UTR PTEN variant occurs in a tumor-suppressor gene whose loss can dysregulate AKT/mTOR signaling and cause Cowden syndrome with increased breast and thyroid cancer risk.