The Turkish SentiMAG feasibility trial: preliminary results

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Surgical Innovation
• Nanotechnology in Medicine

Background:

• Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) is crucial for staging breast cancer with negative axillary nodes.
• Current SNB methods using Technetium-sulphur colloid (99mTc) involve radiation exposure.
• Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIO) present a potential alternative for SNB.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of a novel magnetic technique for sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in Turkish early breast cancer patients.
• To assess the detection rate and postoperative complications associated with the magnetic SNB technique.

Main Methods:

• The study included 143 women with early breast carcinoma and clinically negative axillary lymph nodes.
• Sentinel node localization was performed using a magnetic technique.
• Detection rates and adverse events were systematically recorded.

Main Results:

• The magnetic technique achieved a high sentinel node identification rate of 99% (103/104 patients).
• A median of two sentinel nodes were removed per patient.
• The most common adverse reaction was permanent skin discoloration (7.1%).

Conclusions:

• The magnetic technique is a feasible and effective method for sentinel node detection in breast cancer.
• This magnetic approach offers a viable alternative to standard SNB, particularly in facilities lacking nuclear medicine services.