Magseed^®-guided long-term marking of target lymph nodes in neoadjuvant therapy of early breast cancer patients – first experiences and prospectives

Introduction Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) and targeted axillary dissection (TAD) aim at de-escalation of surgical radicality while guaranteeing oncological safety. Therefore, reliable marking of target lymph nodes (TLN) is mandatory. Available clips come along with challenges including migration and unsatisfactory detection rates. Magseed^® magnetic marker is designed to overcome these issues and is CE-certified for long-term marking of soft tissue. First data from USA are promising. We report our initial experiences with Magseed^® TLN biopsy.

Material Sentimag^® and Magseed^®.

Methods Retrospective analysis of five patients with early breast cancer (cT1-2). Four patients were treated with NAST. Data regarding patient demographics, treatment indication, feasibility, detection rate and side effects were analyzed. Magseed^® was placed under ultrasound. In one patient two nodes were marked. Magseed^® was intra-operatively detected via Sentimag^® magnetometer.

Results Three patients showed complete pathological response of the TLN after NAST. In all cases Magseed^® placement was successful at first attempt. Mean implantation time was 172 days and implantation depth was 10-18mm. In all cases Magseed^® gave a sufficient transcutaneous magnetic signal before incision. TLN detection rate was 100 %, migration rate was 0 % and the correlation between the SLN and the TLN was 100 %. No complications or adverse events were observed.

Conclusions Our data show that Magseed^® represents an accurate, convenient and easy technique for TLN marking and may become first choice for TLN biopsy in NAST. Our institution will present further data at the DGGG. Moreover, Magseed^® has been implemented in the AXSANA-registry of the EuBreast group.

Publication History

Article published online:
16 July 2020