Untangling the tumorigenic role of homotrimeric collagen I.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is characterized by a complex microenvironment. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Chen and colleagues define an oncogenic role of tumor-cell-produced collagen I homotrimers, wherein tumor development is promoted by integrin α3/ß1-dependent activation of tumor cell signaling and modulation of tumor microbiome and immunity.