# FAK (PTK2)

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/fak/  
OnCo record `fak` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

FAK is the kinase that tells a cell it is anchored to its surroundings, letting it survive, move and resist drugs. Defactinib, given with the RAF/MEK inhibitor avutometinib, removes that escape route in low-grade serous ovarian cancer; other FAK inhibitors are in trials in meningioma and solid tumours.

## Summary

PTK2 (chromosome 8q24.3) encodes focal adhesion kinase 1, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase essential for cell migration, adhesion and spreading, actin reorganisation, the assembly and disassembly of focal adhesions, cell-cycle progression, proliferation and apoptosis; it transduces integrin signals and signals from growth-factor receptors, G protein-coupled receptors, EPHA2, netrin and LDL receptors, and is required for embryonic angiogenesis (UniProt Q05397). In OnCo, FAK is blocked by defactinib in the approved avutometinib-defactinib combination for KRAS-mutant low-grade serous ovarian cancer, where it removes an adhesion-driven escape route from MEK inhibition; by GSK2256098 in meningiomas that have lost the NF2 tumour suppressor merlin and depend on FAK (a synthetic-lethal approach); and by IN10018 in phase 3.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Also known as: FAK; FAK1; FADK; focal adhesion kinase; protein tyrosine kinase 2
- Tags: wave5-target
- Symbol: PTK2
- Class: kinase
- Biology: The corpus records frame FAK as a resistance node rather than a driver: LGSOC cells arrest and regress only when FAK is blocked alongside RAF-MEK, and NF2-deficient meningioma depends on FAK signalling once merlin is lost.
- Where found: Low-grade serous ovarian cancer (defactinib with avutometinib); NF2-deficient meningioma (GSK2256098); NSCLC, pancreatic, ovarian and small-cell lung cancer (IN10018 trials)

## Notes

- Prevalence not recorded in this wave: HGNC and UniProt carry no positivity rates and no other source was consulted.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:9611: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:9611
- UniProt Q05397: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q05397/entry
- NCBI Gene 5747: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/5747

## Connected records

- targets: [KRAS](https://onco.cc/targets/kras/), [MEK1/2](https://onco.cc/targets/mek/)
- cancers: [Low-grade serous ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/low-grade-serous-ovarian-cancer/), [Meningioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/meningioma/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/), [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic/)
- technologies: [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/)
- drugs: [Avutometinib + defactinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/avutometinib-defactinib/), [GSK2256098](https://onco.cc/drugs/gsk2256098/), [IN10018](https://onco.cc/drugs/in10018/)
- pathways: [Invasion: proteases, adhesion & the invasive front](https://onco.cc/pathways/invasion-ecm-degradation/), [Resistance routes: how a blocked pathway comes back](https://onco.cc/pathways/resistance-routes-map/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/fak.json