Figure 6.

Conophylline (CnP) reduces desmoplasia of tumors consisting of SUIT‐2 + hPSC5 cells, and combination therapy with gemcitabine markedly inhibits tumor proliferation. A, Tumor growth curve showing that combination therapy with CnP plus gemcitabine suppresses the growth of tumors consisting of SUIT‐2 + hPSC5 cells to the greatest extent. B, Representative photographs of tumors from the four treatment groups (control, CnP, gemcitabine [GEM], CnP + GEM). C, Representative photomicrographs of histological examinations comparing control and CnP treatment (original magnification, ×200; scale bar, 100 μm); D‐F, CnP treatment significantly reduces Sirius red‐positive staining (D), α‐smooth muscle actin (SMA)‐positive staining (E), and percentage of Ki‐67‐positive cells (F) in tumors consisting of SUIT‐2 + hPSC5 cells. *P < .05. hPSC5, human pancreatic stellate cell line