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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2026; 18(10): 120308
Published online Oct 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.120308
Published online Oct 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.120308
Metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Emerging evidence, unresolved questions, and future perspectives
Hong-Fei Tan, Xue-Yuan Hu, Xia Yao, Rui Zhang, Jing-Feng Tang, Ce-Fan Zhou, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Tan HF and Hu XY wrote the original draft; Tang JF and Zhou CF contributed to the conceptualization, writing, review, and editing of the manuscript; and Yao X and Zhang R provided valuable opinions; all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: The authors used DeepL and Grammarly only for language polishing and grammatical correction. The scientific content and conclusions were written and verified by the authors.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 32270768 to Zhou CF and No. 82273970 to Tang JF; Innovation Group Project of Hubei Province, No. 2023AFA026 to Tang JF; the Key Cultivation Project of Hubei Province for Science and Technology, No. 2024DJA037 to Tang JF; and the National Natural Science Foundation of Hubei, No. 2025AFA086 to Zhou CF.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Ce-Fan Zhou, PhD, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, No. 28 Nanli Road, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China.
Received: February 24, 2026
Revised: April 28, 2026
Accepted: June 15, 2026
Published online: October 15, 2026
Processing time: 206 Days and 15.6 Hours
Revised: April 28, 2026
Accepted: June 15, 2026
Published online: October 15, 2026
Processing time: 206 Days and 15.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Current evidence indicates that metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 is not just a simple prognostic marker of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma but is also involved in tumor invasion, metastasis, chemotherapy resistance, and multiple signaling pathways, and is regulated by upstream non-coding RNAs. However, its key functions, mechanistic hierarchy, and context-dependent roles remain unclear. This review summarizes the existing evidence, unresolved questions, and future research directions, aiming to provide a reference for further elucidating the core regulatory mechanisms of metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.