All animal handling, manipulations, and experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines and regulations set by Wayne State University Institutional Animal Use and Care Committee (IACUC), MSKCC Animal Care and Use Committee and Research Animal Resource Center, which are accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). For imaging experiments, female SCID mice (6–8 week old, Taconic) were subcutaneously implanted on the shoulders with BxPC-3 and AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells that were cultured in RPMI 1640 + 10% FBS + 1% NEAA + 1% PenStrep. All cells (5 × 106 cells/tumor) in 150 µL 1:1 media:Matrigel (BD Biosciences, Bedford, MA) were injected on the right shoulder. Monitoring of tumor growth was performed weekly with calipers. The tumor volume was calculated using the formula: length × width × height × π/6. Mice with tumor volumes ranging from 150–250 mm3 were utilized. For in vitro experiments, Mia PACA2 cells were cultured in DMEM + 10% FBS + 2.5% Horse Serum + 1% PenStrep. All cells were maintained at 37 °C at a 5% CO2 atmosphere.