PDX1 and pancreatitis: Given that pancreatitis is considered one of the major risk factors for PDAC25, we postulated that HMGB1 would regulate K-Ras-driven pancreatic tumorigenesis and generated mice conditionally defective in both K-Ras and Hmgb1 in the pancreatic tissue (Pdx1-Cre;K-RasG12D/+;Hmgb1−/−, termed KCH mice; Supplementary information, Figure S1).