Background: Giant cell tumor of bone is a common benign aggressive bone tumor. Recurrent rate in the patients who have the tumor with soft tissue invasion is rather high. Use of strong chemicals such as phenol and liquid nitrogen to lessen the recurrent rate might not be used in this lesion.
Objective: The experiment was carried out to discover apoptotic effects of thermoablation on giant cell tumor of bone to find out a possibility to use thermoablation in the clinic in the patients with extensive lesion.
Material and Method: Tumor cell suspension was prepared from 4 patients who had definite diagnosis of giant cell tumor of bone. The tumor cells were subjected to thermoablation at 45, 47 and 50°C for 10 to 30 minutes before were cultured at 37°C for another 3 days. Osteoblasts and chondrocytes from the last 3 patients were collected, prepared and underwent thermoablation in the same fashion. Apoptosis of tumor cells, chondrocytes and osteoblasts were carried out by the use of flow cytometry.
Results: Thermoablation at 47°C for 30 minutes resulted in < 50% chondrocyte and osteoblast apoptosis and 70-90% tumor cells apoptosis of 3/4 patients. Thermoablation at 47 and 50°C for 20 to 30 minutes has more negative effect on giant cell tumor of bone than chondrocytes and osteoblasts.
Conclusion: Thermoablation might be a useful tool for local tumor control in the clinic.

Keywords: Giant cell tumor, Thermoablation, Apoptosis