Furthermore, we observed that administration of nal-IRI/5-FU/LV alone could induce fibrotic changes such as accumulation of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and deposition of collagen in the pancreatic tumour tissues that might interfere with the function of pancreatic parenchyma adjacent to cancer (Supplementary Fig. 2B). This evidence concerns the gene ACTA1 and pancreatic neoplasm.