The metabolic advantage may explain the significant upregulation of Cx43 reported by others in three pancreatic cancer datasets: Bandea (3.5-fold, P=10−9), Segara (4.1-fold, P=0.001) and Buchholz (1.6-fold, P=0.02; see Supplementary Information). Here, GJA1 is linked to familial pancreatic carcinoma.