Lymphatic Tissue and Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles - Magnetic Particle Imaging for Detection and Distribution in a Breast Cancer Model.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in females in western industrialized countries. The sentinel lymph node concept is well established in the treatment of breast cancer and decreases patients' morbidity. A new technique by adopting this model under the use of MPI after injection of SPIOs could replace it. Qualitative and quantitative Distribution of SPIOs in the axillary lymphatic tissue is unexplored until now. This was tested within a healthy mouse model and than in a tumor bearing mouse model with metastatic axillary lymph nodes. Axillary tissue and surrounding tissues were analyzed with different techniques. We show first results of our study.