To assess clinical relevance, we examined durotaxis behaviour and expression of the FAK–paxillin mechanosensory module across PDAC molecular subtypes: quasi-mesenchymal (QM), classical epithelial and exocrine-like, with QM being the phenotype associated with high tumour grade, metastasis and poor survival in patients with PDAC37,38. This evidence concerns the gene PTK2 and neoplasm.