One of the challenges of fighting pancreatic cancer is finding ways to penetrate the organ’s dense tissue to define the margins between malignant and normal tissue. A new study uses DNA origami structures to selectively deliver fluorescent imaging agents to pancreatic cancer cells without affecting normal cells.
The study, led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign mechanical science and engineering professor Bumsoo Han and professor Jong Hyun Choi at Purdue University, found that specially engineered DNA origami structures carrying imaging dye packets can specifically target human KRAS mutant cancer cells, which are present in 95% of pancreatic cancer cases.
“This research highlights not only the potential for more accurate cancer imaging, but also selective chemotherapy delivery, a significant advancement over current pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma treatments,” said Han, who is also affiliated with the Cancer Center at Illinois. “The current process of cancerous tissue removal through surgical resection can be improved greatly by more accurate imaging of tumor margins.”