Thereafter, ESCC cells with overexpressed SPARCL1 were processed by using p-Akt activator SC-79 (10 μM) (Wang et al., 2017) with PBS as control, after which the Western blot result suggested that the activity of the FAK/Akt signaling pathway inhibited by SPARCL1 was reversed by p-Akt activator SC-79 (Figure 5C). Here, SPARCL1 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.