EPSTI1 and pancreatic adenocarcinoma: Notably, violin plots of gene expression by pathological stages based on the TCGA PAAD data showed that twenty-one of the identified prognostic genes (ITGB6, LAMC2, KRT7, SERPINB5, IGF2BP3, IL1RN, MPZL2, SFTA2, MET, LAMA3, ARNTL2, SLC2A1, LAMB3, COL17A1, EPSTI1, IL1RAP, AK4, ANXA2, S100A16, KRT19, and GPRC5A) also significantly correlated with pathological stages of the disease, indicating that these genes may play crucial roles in the tumorigenesis of PDAC.