A recent study reported that in pancreatic carcinoma, miR-141-3p expression is significantly reduced (24), which is consistent with the findings of the present study, and that XIST upregulates TGF-β2 expression by targeting miR-141-3p, therefore promoting pancreatic carcinoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion. This evidence concerns the gene TGFB2 and exocrine pancreatic carcinoma.