Pancreatic cancer, often dubbed as the “king of cancers” in the digestive system, is influenced by periostin-mediated activation of integrin αvβ3-Akt/Erk-FOXM1 signaling, promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness features in pancreatic cancer stem cells (CSCs) (J. Cao et al., 2019). The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is cancer.