摘要
Malignant transformation of normal cells involves important structural and functional changes, particularly in cell adhesion. In this study, we wanted to assess whether changes in the expression of FAK, a tyrosine kinase, which is recruited to focal adhesions and plays a key role in cell migration, proliferation and survival, could reflect the invasive capacity of bladder carcinomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the FAK expression in cancer ceils as an important prognostic factor of the evolution of bladder carcinomas. Tumor and paired peritumoral biopsies were obtained during transurethral endoscopic resection or cystectomy of bladder tumors in 280 patients at the Urology Unit of the Mustapha Hospital of Algiers and the Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou （Algeria）. The authors studied FAK expression in samples from bladder carcinomas at different stages of malignant transformation by western blot analysis using a specific anti-FAK antibody. Western blot is one of the most common laboratory techniques; it is used to detect the presence of a specific protein in a complex mixture extracted from cells. A weak increase in FAK expression was observed in tumors of grade 1 and 2 （1.65; 2.99） as compared to healthy tissues; it became particularly important in grade 3 tumors; the authors show that FAK levels significantly increased gradually according to the tumor stage.
