At this point it should be mentioned that there are very few 3D systems studying the pancreatic cancer cell Ki-67 expression and none after 15 days of culture, as the centre of such 3D models usually contains arrested proliferation and accumulation of apoptotic due to oxidative stress regions.41,43,89 The pore size and interconnection of this scaffolding system allows the cells to proliferate throughout the matrix area, with local hypoxic areas (HIF-1α positive) being heterogeneously distributed throughout the scaffold area (Fig. 7). This evidence concerns the gene HIF1A and familial pancreatic carcinoma.