title: Expression of pY397 FAK promotes the development of non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression has been identified as associated with cancer development and metastasis. Autophosphorylation of FAK at tyrosine (Y) 397 (pY397) performs a critical role in tumor cell signaling. However, few studies have evaluated the expression of pY397 FAK in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the present study, pY397 FAK expression in NSCLC was investigated using immunohistochemistry. pY397 FAK staining scores were compared between various groups of specimens and the associations between clinical and pathological characteristics were investigated. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to determine the association between pY397 FAK expression and the prognosis of NSCLC patients. The results of the present study revealed that pY397 FAK expression was localized to the cytoplasm of lung cells, and that pY397 FAK was overexpressed in NSCLC tissues, as well as associated metastatic tissues, when compared with the corresponding non-tumor tissues. However, no significant difference was identified between the pY397 FAK expression in primary lesions and lymph node metastases. Furthermore, pY397 FAK staining scores were not found to be associated with the tumor size, gender, degree of differentiation, histotypes, presence of lymph node metastases or survival rate of NSCLC patients. These results indicate that pY397 FAK is involved with the development of NSCLC, but is not a prognostic marker for the disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China; Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Baichun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiuying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Danyang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Meiyan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiangning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China; Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Heilongjiang Higher Education Institutions, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Songbin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fu
keywords: immunohistochemistry; non-small cell lung cancer; pY397 focal adhesion kinase; prognosis