Cigarette smoke and pancreatic cancer: Evidence for increased pancreatic cancer stem cell population

Cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for Pancreatic Cancer. Our goal in this study is to investigate mechanistic link between smoking and pancreatic cancer stem cell (CSC) enrichment. We report that cigarette smoking augments pancreatic CSCs and this process occurs by the activation of Paf1/PD2, a major stem ness marker. We also report that the cigarette smoke activates Paf1/PD2 through nACHRα7-ERK1/2-FOSL1 signaling axis.