Objective To investigate the expression of scaffold protein palladin in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissues and to discuss its clinicopathological significance. Methods 56 samples of PDAC and corresponding adjacent normal pancreas (NP) tissues were collected. Another 10 samples of chronic pancreatitis (CP) tissues were collected. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry assay were performed to detect the expression of protein palladin. The correlation of palladin expression with clinicopathological factors of PDAC was analyzed. Results Western blot analysis revealed that the expression of palladin in PDAC, CP and NP tissues were respectively 0.93 ± 0.07, 0.41 ± 0.07 and 0.20 ± 0.06, and the expression of palladin was significantly increased in PDAC tissues compared with NP and CP tissues (P 0.05). Conclusions Scaffold protein palladin is highly expressed in PDAC tissues, and it is expressed in the activated myofibroblasts within tumor microenvironment. Scaffold protein palladin may be involved in the invasion and metastasis of PDAC. Key words: Palladin protein; Pancreatic neoplasms; Neoplasm invasiveness; Neoplasm metastasis