KRAS and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Experimental studies, such as those involving mice expressing G12D KRAS in the exocrine pancreas, have revealed that VMP1-mediated autophagy collaborates with the KRAS oncogene in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) initiation, significantly increasing pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PANIN) formation in an autophagy-dependent manner [43].