Tumor specific theranostic streptavidin-coupled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for targeting therapeutic moieties in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies and burdened with a dismal prognosis (1). Given that the regulation of cell division is executed with high fidelity to maintain organ homeostasis, it is not surprising that alterations of the cell cycle are a hallmark of cancer (2). Many of the genes encoding key regulators of the cell cycle are mutated in both, sporadic and hereditary forms of cancer including pancreatic cancers implicating a role in the pathogenesis of PDAC (3). Polo-like kinases (PLKs) play an important role in the centrosome cycle which suggests that their deregulation would not be unexpected in malignant tours and their oncogenesis. PLK1 overexpression has, indeed, been observed in wide range of tumor types and was often associated with a poor prognosis (4).