Current status of allografting for bone tumors

Over the past 20 years the Orthopaedic Oncology Unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital has performed over 660 massive cadaveric allograft transplantations, mostly for patients with bone tumors. The overall success rate for such procedures is around 80%, with most of the failures occurring in the first 3 years as a result of fracture (19%), nonunion (14%), and infection (10%). With longer follow up, late occurring osteoarthritis has been noted in approximately 17% of those patients at risk, suggesting that the articular surface begins to "wear" at 5 years. Some problems remain with the procedure, and more study of such aspects as the immune mechanism, cryopreservation of cartilage, maintaining the status and safety of the bone banking system, and improving the techniques of surgery ultimately may lead to a more uniform and predictable success rate.