Tension and Transformation in Pancreas Cancer: Can Phenotype Break Free from the Chrysalis of Genotype?

A recent study finds that impaired TGFβ signaling can initiate a positive feedbackloop between increasing ECM stiffness and epithelial cell contractility in pancreas cancer. Even more surprisingis the possibility that this phenotype can liberate the epithelium from dependence on the genetic events that transformed it.