The present inventors have harnessed the targeting of nanoparticles to tumour sites, combined with the tumour site specific elevated MMP-14 activity within one conjugate to simultaneously deliver a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) and a MRI contrast agent to a tumour site. The MMP activatable conjugate of the present invention provides both therapeutic and diagnostic functions—and is referred to as a “theranostic”. The theranostic conjugate of the present invention achieves the benefits of tumour site specificity, VDA delivery and MRI contrast agent delivery in a single theranostic conjugate. Consequently, the present invention provides a cancer “theranostic” which improves therapeutic efficacy whilst simultaneously reducing dose-limiting systemic toxicities and provides a tool for rapidly and non-invasively identifying tumour location, monitoring drug delivery and pharmacodynamics.
