ACVR1B suppresses early stages of pancreatic tumorigenesis; the activin signaling pathway therefore might be a therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.
We identified a homozygous deletion of the ACVR1B gene in PC cell lines and clinical samples and proposed that the deletion of the ACVR1B gene may mediate an aggressive cancer phenotype in PC.
No mutations were identified in mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (0 of 22), MADH4 (0 of 22), or ACVR1B (0 of 29), making it unlikely that germ-line mutations in these genes account for a significant number of inherited pancreatic cancers.