Abstract: Mutations and deletions of the tumour suppressor PTEN are frequently involved in the development of cancer. However, PTEN is also tightly controlled by various non-genomic mechanisms，such as the epigenetic silencing of PTEN, post-transcriptional regulation by non-coding RNAs and post-translational modification.

Key words: PTEN, Tumour suppressor, PI3K–Akt/PKB pathway, non-genetic regulation, Cancer