To test the effects of potentially therapeutic agents in vitro, researchers use human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, e.g., AsPC-1 and BxPC-3, bearing the most common gene mutations in this type of cancer (KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A/p16, and SMAD4/DPC4) [16]. Here, SMAD4 is linked to exocrine pancreatic carcinoma.