Administering FAK inhibitors or rendering metastatic breast cancer cells FAK deficient abrogated the interaction between β3 integrin and TβR-II, thereby preventing TGF-β from (a) activating p38 MAPK; (b) stimulating MEC invasion, migration, and EMT; and (c) inducing early primary tumor dissemination to the lungs. The gene discussed is PTK2; the disease is breast cancer.