Open AccessTargeting FAK in anticancer combination therapies
Author(s) -
John C. Dawson,
Alan Serrels,
Dwayne G. Stupack,
David D. Schlaepfer,
Margaret C. Frame
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature reviews. cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 19.575
H-Index - 442
eISSN - 1474-1768
pISSN - 1474-175X
DOI - 10.1038/s41568-021-00340-6
Subject(s) - focal adhesion , druggability , cancer research , tyrosine kinase , medicine , targeted therapy , kinase , cancer , signal transduction , receptor , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is both a non-receptor tyrosine kinase and an adaptor protein that primarily regulates adhesion signalling and cell migration, but FAK can also promote cell survival in response to stress. FAK is commonly overexpressed in cancer and is considered a high-value druggable target, with multiple FAK inhibitors currently in development. Evidence suggests that in the clinical setting, FAK targeting will be most effective in combination with other agents so as to reverse failure of chemotherapies or targeted therapies and enhance efficacy of immune-based treatments of solid tumours. Here, we discuss the recent preclinical evidence that implicates FAK in anticancer therapeutic resistance, leading to the view that FAK inhibitors will have their greatest utility as combination therapies in selected patient populations.