Pancreatic cancer (PCC) is one of the most dangerous types of tumor as it is very difficult to treat and its 5‑year survival rate is <6%. To date, there have been no effective therapeutic strategies to treat PCC, thus, novel effective therapeutic methods are required. Tetraspanin 1 (Tspan1) is a novel member of the tetraspanins superfamily and is highly expressed in a variety of types of cancer, including gastric, hepatocellular and colonic carcinomas. However, the detailed functional role of Tspan1 in pancreatic cancer cells is still unclear and further investigation is required to uncover its therapeutic potential for the treatment of different tumor types. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the expression of Tspan1 in human PCC tissues and cells, and explore the effect of Tspan1 silencing on invasion, migration, cell survival and apoptosis in human PCC to clarify its function. Expression levels of Tspan1 were analyzed in human pancreatic cancer tissues and the cell lines Capan‑2 and SW1990 using immunohistochemistry staining, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The effects of downregulation of Tspan1 expression on cell survival, apoptosis, invasion and migration were investigated viaTspan1‑small interfering (si)RNA transfection into human PCC cell lines. The results indicated that Tspan1 expression was increased in human PCC tissues compared with the adjacent normal pancreatic tissues. Tspan1 was highly expressed in the human PCC cell lines Capan‑2 and SW1990 when compared with the normal pancreatic cell line HPC‑Y5. In addition, transfection with siRNA‑targeting Tspan1 significantly reduced cell migration and invasion, and increased the cell apoptosis of Capan‑2 and SW1990. The present findings highlighted the important role of Tspan1 in human PCC cell migration, invasion and apoptosis. Thus, Tspan1 RNA interference may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy to treat human PCC.