Abstract Cellular plasticity is a hallmark of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) starting from the conversion of normal cells to precancerous lesions to the progression of carcinoma subtypes associated with aggressiveness and therapeutic response. We found that normal acinar cell differentiation, maintained by the transcription factor Pdx1, suppresses a broad gastric cell identity that is maintained in metaplasia, neoplasia, and the classical subtype of PDAC.
