Treatment of pancreatic cancer cells with pristimerin also resulted in G1-phase arrest which was strongly associated with a marked decrease in the level of cyclins (D1 and E) and cyclin-dependent kinases (cdk2, cdk4 and cdk6 ) with concomitant induction of WAF1/p21 and KIP1/p27. Here, CDKN1A is linked to familial pancreatic carcinoma.