Role of stromal activin A in human pancreatic cancer and metastasis in mice.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has extensive stromal involvement and remains one of the cancers with the highest mortality rates. Activin A has been implicated in colon cancer and its stroma but its role in the stroma of PDAC has not been elucidated. Activin A expression in cancer and stroma was assessed in human PDAC tissue microarrays (TMA).

Activin A Modulates Inflammation in Acute Pancreatitis and Strongly Predicts Severe Disease Independent of Body Mass Index.

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a healthcare challenge with considerable mortality. Treatment is limited to supportive care, highlighting the need to investigate disease drivers and prognostic markers. Activin A is an established mediator of inflammatory responses, and its serum levels correlate with AP severity.

Author Correction: Increased stiffness of the tumor microenvironment in colon cancer stimulates cancer associated fibroblast-mediated prometastatic activin A signaling.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

TGFβ and activin A in the tumor microenvironment in colorectal cancer.

Although overall survival in colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing steadily due to progress in screening, therapeutic options and precise diagnostic tools remain scarce. As the understanding of CRC as a complex and multifactorial condition moves forward, the tumor microenvironment has come into focus as a source of diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets. The role of TGFβ in shifting the epithelial cancer compartment towards invasiveness and a pro-migratory phenotype via stromal signaling has been widely investigated.