EGFR and familial pancreatic carcinoma: Altered expression or constitutive activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/HER1/erbB1) commonly occurs in both primary and metastatic pancreatic cancers and is often a critical component in progressive growth and resistance to normal mechanisms of cell death (Lemoine et al, 1992; Schmiegel et al, 1997; Xiong and Abbruzzese, 2002).