CYTOTOXICITY OF PHENOL TO MUSCULOSKELETAL TUMORS

Local treatment with phenol is often used after intralesional excision of chondroblastomas and giant-cell tumours which involve bone near jo ints, and has been shown to reduce the rate of recurrence, The ideal c oncentration of phenol is uncertain, but may be important because of t he high rate of absorption and toxicity, We have studied the effective ness of different concentrations on standard sarcoma cell lines, Our r esults suggest that a 5% solution of phenol is effective against dispe rsed single cells, and that higher concentrations give no significant advantage, but create problems due to lack of homogeneous mixing, temp erature and safety.