SMAD4 and familial pancreatic carcinoma: SMAD4 stands for SMA- and MAD-related protein 4, other names are SMAD family member 4, Deleted in Pancreatic Cancer-4 (DPC4) and Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4, SMAD4 is present in all metazoans and is highly conserved between species (16).