Although tumours in the corpus and cauda were associated more often with distant metastases at diagnosis than tumours of the caput (70% versus 47%), after adjusting for distant metastasis, age and gender, these tumours were still associated with an increased risk of VTE (Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.6, 95% CI 0.4–5.9 and 2.5, 95% CI 0.9–7.4, respectively).9 Of interest, although mucin secretion by pancreatic cancer cells is one of the described prothrombotic mechanisms, no difference in adjusted VTE risk was reported in mucinous adenocarcinoma compared with non-mucinous adenocarcinoma. This evidence concerns the gene MUC5AC and colon mucinous adenocarcinoma.