Pancreatic stellate cells support tumor growth by synthesis and remodeling of extracellular matrix and by feeding cancer cells with nonessential amino acids. Although discovered almost twenty years ago, activated pancreatic stellate cells and fibrotic stroma they produce remain largely overlooked in most strategies against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
   We investigate pancreatic cancer as a complex tissue that consists of cancer cells, tumor- associated activated pancreatic stellate cells
and tumor stroma, focusing on calcium signaling.