The expression levels of sonic hedgehog (SHH) signalling elements, which play critical functions in the desmoplasic lesion formation were also induced in pancreatic cancer cells under hypoxic conditions, and the tumour and stromal HIF-1α staining positively correlated with SHH ligand expression in pancreatic cancer tumour samples [285]. Here, SHH is linked to familial pancreatic carcinoma.