Pre-clinical evaluation of AZD-2014, a novel mTORC1/2 dual inhibitor, against renal cell carcinoma.

•AZD-2014 inhibits RCC cell growth in vitro, more efficiently than rapamycin/RAD001.•AZD-2014 induces apoptosis in RCC cells, but not in non-cancerous HK-2 cells.•AZD-2014 disrupts mTORC1/2 assembly/activation, downregulating mTOR-regulated genes.•Autophagy inhibition increased AZD-2014 activity both in vivo and in vitro.•AZD-2014 shows higher efficiency than RAD001 in inhibiting RCC xenografts in vivo.