Chronic pancreatitis is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer; however, the mechanisms underlying cellular susceptibility to oncogenic transformation are complex. A recent study reports a damage-associated progenitor cell state, controlled by the transcription factors KLF5 and members of the AP-1 family, that initiates tumorigenesis in mouse models of pancreatic cancer in which the proto-oncogene KRAS is altered.
- Lindsay M. LaFave
- Jason D. Buenrostro
