淋巴结（LN）分期在诊断和治疗癌症转移中至关重要。用于特异性定位转移性淋巴结（MLNs）的生物技术已引起显著关注，以有效定义肿瘤转移。生物成像技术，特别是磁性纳米颗粒（MNPs），如氧化铁纳米颗粒，已成为癌症生物成像的有前途的工具，在术前和术中追踪MLNs方面具有巨大潜力。作为无辐射的磁共振成像（MRI）探针，MNPs可以作为MRI对比剂的替代物，提供更高的准确性和生物安全性，用于癌症患者的淋巴结分期。尽管MNPs的应用还处于初期阶段，但探索其潜在机制可以提高淋巴结映射的灵敏度和多功能性。本文综述了MNPs用于术前和临床开发中的转移性结节成像的可行性和当前应用状况。此外，探索具有可控特性的新型和有前景的基于MNP的策略可能会导致更精确治疗转移性癌症患者。© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.

Staging lymph nodes (LN) is crucial in diagnosing and treating cancer metastasis. Biotechnologies for the specific localization of metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) have attracted significant attention to efficiently define tumor metastases. Bioimaging modalities, particularly magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) such as iron oxide nanoparticles, have emerged as promising tools in cancer bioimaging, with great potential for use in the preoperative and intraoperative tracking of MLNs. As radiation-free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probes, MNPs can serve as alternative MRI contrast agents, offering improved accuracy and biological safety for nodal staging in cancer patients. Although MNPs' application is still in its initial stages, exploring their underlying mechanisms can enhance the sensitivity and multifunctionality of lymph node mapping. This review focuses on the feasibility and current application status of MNPs for imaging metastatic nodules in preclinical and clinical development. Furthermore, exploring novel and promising MNP-based strategies with controllable characteristics could lead to a more precise treatment of metastatic cancer patients.© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.