Magseed®-guided long-term marking of target lymph nodes in neoadjuvant therapy of early breast cancer patients - experiences in 13 patients

Aim Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) and targeted axillary dissection (TAD) aim 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 CE-certified for long-term marking of soft tissue. First US-data are promising. We report our experiences with Magseed® TLN biopsy.

Materials Sentimag® and Magseed®.

Methods Retrospective analysis of thirteen patients with early breast cancer (cT1-2) and 1-2 positive lymph nodes. All patients were treated with NAST and showed sonographic complete response in the axilla. Data regarding patient demographics, treatment indication, feasibility, detection rate and side effects were analyzed. Magseed® was placed under ultrasound. In two patients two nodes were marked. Magseed® was intra-operatively detected via Sentimag® magnetometer.

Results Eleven patients showed complete pathological response of the TLN after NAST. Despite complete sonographic response, axillary dissection was indicated in two patients. In all cases Magseed® placement was successful at first attempt. Mean implantation time was 192 days and implantation depth was 5-24 mm. In all cases Magseed® gave a sufficient transcutaneous magnetic signal before incision. TLN detection rate was 100%, migration-rate was 0%. No complications or adverse events were observed.

Conclusion Our data show that Magseed® represents an accurate, convenient and easy technique for TLN marking and may become the new first choice for TLN biopsy in NAST. Moreover, Magseed® has been implemented in the AXSANA-registry of the EuBreast group.

Publication History

Article published online:
01 June 2021