The SPINK1 gene is normally not expressed outside of the pancreas, but its expression has been demonstrated to be elevated in pancreatic cancer (Friess et al, 2001; Iacobuzio-Donahue et al, 2002; Iacobuzio-Donahue et al, 2003a; Grutzmann et al, 2004; Fukushima et al, 2005), whereas the present study demonstrated that SPINK1 is highly expressed in normal pancreatic tissue compared with pancreatic cancer. This evidence concerns the gene SPINK1 and familial pancreatic carcinoma.