Analysis of TCGA clinical data showed that PC patients with higher USP33 expression were accompanied with poorer overall survival, meanwhile, the ROC analysis suggested that USP33 was a significant predictor of tumor versus normal subtypes (AUC = 0.915) (Fig. 1B, C).The qRT-PCR and western-blotting experiments also supported our bioinformatic analysis, the mRNA and protein level of USP33 was higher in PC cells or tumor samples than that of normal pancreatic ductal cells or adjacent normal samples (Fig. 1D–F). This evidence concerns the gene USP33 and pachyonychia congenita.