0425 - Biomechanical Properties of Taxol-loaded Bone Cement

INTRODUCTION: Skeletal metastases frequently occur in patients suffering from breast cancer, the spine being the most common site. An improved survival rate of breast cancer has led to a rise in the incidence of skeletal metastases, resulting in serious morbidity (e.g. collapsed vertebrae) and a marked decrease in quality of life. The management of spinal metastatic lesions currently involves intra-lesional curretage, internal fixation and structural reinforcement with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement. Recent studies show that PMMA can be an effective carrier for localized delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs [1,2,3]. Use of bone cement as a chemotherapeutic drug delivery system may prevent local recurrence of metastases. The clinical concern of admixing a chemotherapeutic drug to bone cement is the reduction in strength of the bone cement. Several studies investigated the effects of different antibiotic admixtures on the mechanical properties of bone cement and found these to be drug specific. Therefore such effects must be studied for every new drug admixed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the loss of biomechanical strength when PMMA bone cement is used as a delivery-system for local chemotherapy of destructive, vertebral metastases. The anticancer drug used is Taxol, a relatively new drug originally isolated from the pacific yew tree with a unique mode of action on the microtubuli. Taxol currently is approved by the FDA for the treatment of breast cancer and ovarian cancer, as well as other indications.