What is the Magseed® marker?

In this article, you will find answers to the following questions you may have:

• What is the Magseed® marker and how does it work?
• Why is it being used in my breast cancer surgery?
• How is the Magseed® marker placed?
• Will the Magseed® marker stay in my breast?
• Why does my hospital use the Magseed® marker?
• Does it work?
• What procedures is the Magseed® marker used in?
  

A Magseed® marker is a magnetic, unbreakable seed used by hospitals in the surgical treatment of breast cancer.

It’s extremely small – smaller than a single grain of rice. For that reason, it cannot be felt when placed in your breast before surgery and is completely painless.

If you have been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer or have a suspicious looking lump that your doctor would like removed, you may have been offered a breast-conserving surgery (also known as a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy). These are treatment options that can save your breast from being removed completely (a full mastectomy).

The Magseed® marker is used to aid surgeons in these procedures. It’s placed inside the lump and helps to guide your surgeon to the exact location of the cancer.

Because the seed is magnetic, your surgeon can use our Sentimag® probe to help guide them to the exact location of the cancer. Think of it like a GPS, directing your surgeon to exactly where they need to get to.

It is typically injected by your radiologist ahead of surgery, usually between a few days and four weeks beforehand, dependent on your diagnosis.

Yes and no. Yes, it will stay perfectly still after its placed, but when it’s time for your procedure your surgeon will use our Sentimag® guidance system to find the precise location of the Magseed® marker in the lump. Both the lump and the marker will then be removed.

Specialist breast care units and hospitals are using the Magseed® marker because it has a number of benefits over traditional methods of marking sites of breast cancer – such as guidewires, which are widely considered to be less accurate and can cause discomfort.

The Magseed® marker is an advanced but relatively new technique for breast cancer surgery. It’s clinically proven and now in routine use across over 45 countries around the world, having successfully treated tens of thousands of patients. Most importantly, it enables surgeons to deliver a better standard of care to their patients.

The Magseed® marker is being used by hundreds of hospitals around the world and is quickly becoming the new standard in breast cancer surgery.

It can be placed easily ahead of your surgery and the seed has been proven to be successfully retrieved in 100% of procedures, thanks to pioneering detection technology.

In contrast to other technologies, we can guarantee the Magseed® marker won’t move once placed, which means that surgeons are able to carry out more accurate and less-invasive procedures, which also facilitate better outcomes for patients.

The Magseed® marker is typically used in two treatments – surgically removing a cancer lump and marking a cancerous lymph node following chemotherapy.

Your physician may have already informed you of which of these treatments you require, but to find out more about each procedure – and what you can expect from start to finish – follow the links below:

→ A guide to lumpectomy surgery with the Magseed® marker
→ A guide to targeted axillary dissection with the Magseed® marker