Twenty-four hub genes were confirmed, the survival analyses from the cBioPortal online platform revealed that topoisomerase (DNA) II α (TOP2A), periostin (POSTN), plasminogen activator, urokinase (PLAU), and versican (VCAN) may be involved in the carcinogenesis and progression of Pa, and the receiver-operating characteristic curves indicated their diagnostic value for Pa.
Taken together, these findings suggest that POSTN promotes tumor angiogenesis via Erk/VEGF signaling in PaC and POSTN may be a new target for cancer anti-vascular treatment.
These findings suggest an important role of periostin in pancreatic cancer and provide a rationale to study periostin for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.