a mRNA analysis of the selected genes demonstrated a significant increase in the expression of KRT19, SFN, ITGB6, ADAMTS12, TNFSF9 and CXCL3 in the stroma of PDAC as compared to the adjacent NT fibrous tissue. p Value was determined by using a two-tailed Student’s t test. b Immunohistological analysis of KRT19, SFN, ITGB6, ADAMTS12, TNFSF9 and CXCL3 protein expression in the stroma (T) and the surrounding NT fibrous tissue (NT) of an independent set of 80 patients with resected PDAC. Staining was scored as described in the “Materials and methods” section: negative (0), mild (1), moderate (2), or strong (3). The expression of SFN, ADAMTS12 and CXCL3 was significantly increased in the stroma of PDAC. c Representative strong immunostaining in stroma of PDAC of SFN, ADAMTS12 and CXCL3.