The major cause of death in patients with pancreatic cancer is metastatic disease. In fact, at the time of diagnosis, patients usually have locally advanced or metastatic disease involving lymph nodes, liver, lungs or peritoneum. Therefore, for a better understanding of the tumoral behavior to design prevention or treatment strategies, in vivo models are important. We report here the results of the metastatic behavior of parental and metastatic cell lines in a hamster pancreatic cancer model when implanted orthotopically (OIH,OIM) or into the liver (LIH,LIM). Metastatic sites and survival were studied. Survival ranged from 72 to 105 days. The OIH group showed spontaneous metastases to lymph nodes. The second target organ was the lung. Liver metastases appeared earlier in the OIM group than OIH. LIH showed only metastases to the pancreas while the LIM group showed metastases to pancreas, vas deferens and testis. This study suggests that the metastatic behavior of parental and metastatic cell lines is different. Thus, this should be considered in the planning of clinical or surgical treatment against pancreatic cancer.