A case of mistaken identity? Nonductal origins of pancreatic "ductal" cancers.

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Guerra and colleagues provide important new insights regarding the ability of specific pancreatic cell types to generate invasive pancreatic cancer. First, they demonstrate that classical pancreatic "ductal" neoplasia can be induced by activation of oncogenic Kras in nonductal exocrine cells. Second, they show that, while Kras activation in immature acinar and centroacinar cells is readily able to induce ductal neoplasia, Kras-mediated tumorigenesis in mature exocrine pancreas requires the induction of chronic epithelial injury. The results shed new light on the "cell of origin" of pancreatic ductal cancer and demonstrate that chronic pancreatitis provides a permissive environment for Kras-induced pancreatic neoplasia.