PTPA and cancer: Interestingly, this study showed that PP2A activity is abnormally high in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells that require high basal autophagy for viability, proposing the novel mechanism by which the phosphatase activity toward ULK1 allows cancer cells to maintain high autophagy activity even in the presence of active mTORC1 signaling for high growth and survival capability in cancers.