Silencing of caveolin-1 in fibroblasts as opposed to epithelial tumor cells results in increased tumor growth rate and chemoresistance in a human pancreatic cancer model.

Caveolin‑1 (Cav‑1) expression has been shown to be associated with tumor growth and resistance to chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. The primary aim of this study was to explore the significance of Cav‑1 expression in pancreatic cancer cells as compared to fibroblasts in relation to cancer cell proliferation and chemoresistance, both in vitro and in vivo, in an immunodeficient mouse model. We also aimed to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of Cav‑1 in the epithelial and stromal component of pancreatic cancer tissue specimens.