A remarkable percentage of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas express the transmembrane protein CD98hc, which is crucial for cell proliferation and development due to its function as a coreceptor of ß-integrins, amplifying intracellular integrin-dependent downstream signaling, and as a transporter of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids. Here, SLC3A2 is linked to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.