Objective：To investigate the effects of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts（CAFs）on chemoresistance of epithelial cancer cells and the underlying mechanism. Methods：Epithelial ovarian cancer cell Ovcar3 were exposed to cis-diammin-odichloroplatinum（DDP） with various concentrations and different duration，then CAFs cultured with Ovcar3 cell. The apoptosis of Ovcar3 cell was assessed by flow cytometry. The mRNA level of PI3K/AKT/XIAP was detected by real-time PCR. The protein level of PI3K，XIAP，AKT and AKT phosphorylation（p-AKT）was detected by Western blot. Signaling transduction inhibitors，LY294002 was used to block PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. Results：After co-culture，CAFs prevent DDP-induced apoptosis by upregulating the mRNA level and protein levels of PI3K/XIAP（P＜0.05）. In addition，p-AKT was enhanced by CAFs. Remarkably，inhibition of p-AKT by LY294002 can block the effects on DDP-induced XIAP up-regulation. Conclusion：These results demonstrate a novel mechanism by which CAFs regulates apoptosis and the possible involvement of the PI3K/AKT/XIAP survival pathway in chemoresistance of epithelial ovarian cancer cells.