Sentimag® - Magtrace® in melanoma

Melanoma is a skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells of the skin and can occur anywhere on the body. In many cases it develops in skin often exposed to sunlight, such as the face, neck, hands and arms.

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancers as it is more prone to form metastases. Therefore, identifying if the cancer has spread - using sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) - is a vital part of the cancer staging process. SLNB is the most important prognostic factor and the most sensitive and specific diagnostic procedure to determine the nodal involvement [1-4].  

Contrary to standard sentinel node localisation using radioisotoes, the Magtrace^® lymphatic tracer uses safe magnetic fields. This helps to eliminate concerns related to safety and flexibility for both the clinician and patient, as well as the workflow and availability associated with ionising radiation. The flexibility of Magtrace^® is really a key benefit because it enables SLNB to be performed anywhere and in a wider injection window.

First, the tracer is injected via intradermal injection. The tracer will migrate to the sentinel nodes and due to its traceable signal, the nodes containing Magtrace^® can be identified using the magnetic sensor in the Sentimag® probe before being removed.

Magtrace^® – an accurate clinical solution

• Regardless of the hospital setting or facilities, provide the best standard of cancer staging
• Convenience is key for both clinician and patient – inject the tracer anywhere from 20 minutes prior to surgery or up to 30 days in advance
• Radioactivity is eliminated – while still reaching equivalent clinical outcomes [4,5]
• Certified for intra-dermal injection
• Intuitive magnetic identification as well as visual confirmation
• Sentimag^® and Magtrace^® are FDA-cleared and CE-marked

Selected sources:

[1] SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Melanoma of the Skin. seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/melan.html  (accessed Apr. 19, 2021).
[2] Karakousis et al. (2017): Ann Surg Oncol. 24:952–959.
[3] Swetter et al. (2019): J Am Acad Dermatol. 80:208–250.
[4] Piñero-Madrona et al. (2020): J Surg Oncol. 1-6.
[5] Anninga et al. (2016). (2016): Ann Surg Oncol. 23(6):2070-8.