GATA6 and cancer: In their study, nicotine-activated AKT-ERK-MYC signaling led to dedifferentiation, loss of differentiation in acinar cells, enhanced aggressiveness in cancer cells and increased numbers of circulating cancer cells, hyperactivation of oncogenic KRAS, and inhibition of Gata6 promoter activity accompanied by loss of GATA6 protein, altered gene expression and functional characteristics [35].