Norgine B.V. announced the launch of LYMPHOSEEK® (Tc 99m tilmanocept) in Finland and Sweden.

LYMPHOSEEK® is a radiopharmaceutical used for diagnostic purposes by nuclear medicine specialists and surgeons.

It is specifically designed for a procedure called sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and represents a significant alternative to the current method of identifying sentinel lymph nodes in adult patients with breast cancer, melanoma, or localised squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.

LYMPHOSEEK® has been specifically designed to target, and be retained in sentinel lymph nodes, the first lymph node (or group of nodes) to which cancer cells are most likely to spread from a primary tumour.

It detected sentinel lymph nodes in 99% of patients with Tis, Tx or T1-T4cN0 breast cancer and in 97% of patients with T1-T4cN0 melanoma. 

LYMPHOSEEK® offers particular value in identifying lymphatic drainage from tumours in the floor of the mouth (underneath the tongue) which can prove especially difficult.

Currently up to 70-80% of patients with early oral cancer receive elective neck dissection surgery, a major procedure which could be avoided by using sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for staging.