Development of visible drug delivery system for the diagnosis and therapy of pancreatic tumors was carried in Mainichi Newspaper, Nikkei Sangyo Newspaper, Nippon Keizai Newspaper (Web) and Kagaku Shimbun(Oct.1) (Professor Kazunori Kataoka, Graduate Schools of Engineering and Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Professor Toru Tani, Department of Surgery, Shiga University of Medical Science, and Dr. Ichio Aoki, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences) This study was featured as the sidebar cover in September 15th issue of Cancer Research, an official journal of the American Association of Cancer Research.

Theranostic polymeric micelles incorporating clinically approved gadolinium (Gd)-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents and platinum (Pt) anticancer drugs were developed. By utilizing theranostic micelles, simultaneous imaging and therapy of an orthotopic pancreatic cancer model in mice was successfully performed without any serious toxicity. Thus, theranostic micelles can visualize their biodistribution and tumor accumulation in a real-time manner, allowing prediction of the efficacy and side effects for successful and safe cancer therapy. Also, theranostic micelles can allow to follow the therapeutic response in each cancer patient and realize early feedback of the treatment efficacy to optimize the treatment protocol for eradication of malignancies.