Magseed will be distributed throughout EMEA by Sysmex, as part of a new 5-year distribution deal for the Sentimag® surgical guidance platform.
Magseed allows a radiologist to accurately mark the tumour site with a seed, smaller than a grain of rice, up to 30 days before surgery. It only takes a few minutes to put it in and, once implanted, it’s set firmly in place and cannot be dislodged before surgery. The patient is free to return home and carry out normal day-to-day activities, which significantly improves the patient experience.
In the operating theatre the surgeon uses the Sentimag to accurately locate the tumour before making an incision. This frees the surgeon to select the best approach, reducing the invasiveness of the surgery and possibly providing a better cosmetic outcome. Once inside, knowing its precise location helps ensure all of the tumour is removed.
Eric Mayes, CEO Endomag: “After the successful launch of Magseed in the US, where many of the top cancer centres are now using it routinely, we couldn’t wait to make it available across Europe. Sysmex’s experience with the Sentimag and Sienna system makes it an ideal partner for Magseed, and Sysmex has demonstrated its ability to successfully launch and grow sales of our products across the EMEA region. Together, we can now offer the first radiation-free surgical guidance platform for both lesion localisation and sentinel node biopsy using a single instrument.”
Endomag and Symex’s partnership dates from 2013 and the launch of Sentimag in EMEA. The Sentimag platform is the first to offer radiation-free surgical guidance for both localising and staging breast cancer. Since that time both companies have invested in numerous clinical trials that have shown the technique to be as effective as the current gold standard. The system now has an installed base of over 130 systems across EMEA and has been used in over 25,000 breast cancer operations.
Ines Groener, Senior Vice President of Oncology, Sysmex: “We’re pleased to extend our partnership with Endomag, which has proven its ability to successfully address genuine unmet needs. Our commitment to another five years demonstrates our confidence in Endomag and the Sentimag platform. We are delighted with this opportunity to introduce Magseed. We will now be able to deliver a safer, more efficient workflow for cancer centres that we believe will help them be more efficient and more effective. This is perfectly in line with our mission of shaping the advancement of healthcare for the benefit of patients and our clients alike.”
While already in use at sites across Europe, its official launch will be at the Oncoplastic and Reconstructive Breast Surgery (ORBS) conference in Nottingham, 25th - 27th September. Professor Michael Alvarado, Director, Breast Surgery Fellowship from University of California, San Francisco will give a talk on Adopting a Magnetic Seed Programme and UCSF’s experience as the first cancer centre to adopt Magseed. Also, Dr Abigail Caudle, Breast Surgical Oncologist, Executive Medical Director from MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, will present on the trending topic of Targeted Axillary Dissection and MD Anderson’s experience with Magseed for that technique. The workshop is scheduled for 8:00 am on Tuesday, September 26th.
Image: X-ray showing a complete surgical specimen with negative margins and Magseed in the centre, next to the cancer.
About Endomag http://www.endomag.com
Endomag is a pioneer in the use of magnetism for minimally-invasive surgical guidance. By addressing unmet needs in availability, affordability and workflow efficiency for surgical oncology, we support our mission to improve the global standard of cancer care for everyone, everywhere.
Founded as a spin-out from the University of Houston and the University College London (UCL) in 2007, we continue to develop our unique clinical platform that uses magnetic fields to power diagnostic and therapeutic devices. The company has sales in over 30 countries worldwide and is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
About Sysmex Corporation http://www.sysmex.co.jp/en/
Sysmex Corporation is a world leader in clinical laboratory systemisation, providing solutions for laboratory diagnostics, laboratory automation and clinical information systems. Serving customers for close on 50 years, our mission is to shape the advancement of healthcare by delivering technological leadership in diagnostic science and information tools that make a genuine difference to the health of people worldwide.
More recently, Sysmex has been focusing on improving cancer management. We provide innovative, targeted solutions to improve the cancer management workflow – from screening, through diagnostics, surgery and postoperative treatment and support.
The company, headquartered in Kobe, Japan, has subsidiaries in North America, Latin America, Europe, China and Asia Pacific and employs about 8,000 employees worldwide. Sysmex Corporation is listed in the top tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. For more information about Sysmex Corporation and its EMEA affiliate, please visit http://www.sysmex-europe.com
About breast tumour localisation
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, with 1.7 million new cases of breast cancer globally every year, and is expected to double by 2030. Due to a rise in national screening programmes and an increase in public awareness, breast cancer is being diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage meaning that the tumours are smaller, less defined and harder to feel, with as many as 50% of all breast tumours impalpable at the time of diagnosis. In these cases, a technique called ‘wire localisation’ is typically used by surgeons to locate the tumour.
Although widely used, wire localisation commonly causes complications: It involves inserting a hookwire into the tumour on the morning of surgery. The wire protrudes from the patient’s breast and great care must be taken to avoid dislodging or moving the wire before surgery, creating additional stresses for the patient’s day. If the wire should move, there’s no way for the surgeon to know, and they must assume it’s in the right place and remove the tissue around the tip of the wire. On average, the wire will have migrated in one in four patients and parts of the tumour will be left in the breast and require a second procedure or additional treatment to remove it. Additionally, there is a risk of infection due to the wire protruding from the skin, so the placement of the wire must be done on the same day as surgery. These issues result in unnecessary anxiety for patients, delays to the surgical lists and fewer patients being treated as a consequence.
Alternatively, newer techniques such as ‘Radioseed Localisation’ involve placement of small radio-labelled (iodine-125 or palladium-103) metal seeds within the breast lesion, enabling precise localisation of cancerous tissue up to 5 days ahead of surgery. The use of radioactive components during breast surgery is subject to strict nuclear regulatory requirements and close monitoring/tracking procedures to ensure that the seeds are handled appropriately and not lost during operations.
About Magseed®
Magseed® is smaller than a grain of rice and can be placed into the tumour for up to 30 days, allowing the patient to return home ahead of surgery. Once implanted, the seed is not easily dislodged and patients are not restricted in movement or activity. On the day of surgery, patients aren’t subjected to a localisation procedure and can instead go straight to the operating theatre. During surgery, the seed is detected with the Sentimag® probe to guide accurate removal of the tumour, maximising the amount of healthy tissue left behind. Unlike radioactive alternatives that involve strict regulatory oversight and complex logistics, the Magseed® technique can be widely adopted by any hospital, regardless of size.