Together, these data indicated that DUSP2 restoration in pancreatic cancer cell could reverse mesenchymal transition and ERK1/2 pathway activation caused by miR-361-3p, and the miR-61-3p/DUSP2/ERK axis in programming pancreatic cancer EMT was further demonstrated by in vitro experiments and clinical samples. Here, MAPK3 is linked to pancreatic neoplasm.