These studies indicated that upon the inhibition of the MAPK pathway, KRAS-mutant tumors depend on autophagy for survival and that, as a result, blocking this protective mechanism by concomitant inhibition of autophagy and MEK or ERK kinases is likely to be therapeutically beneficial in patients with KRAS-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, NRAS-mutant melanoma, and BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer (66, 67). This evidence concerns the gene KRAS and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.