As a treatment of giant cell tumors (GCT) of the long bone, anhydrous alcohol was used in our institution due to the potential complications associated with other previous adjuvants. Therefore, this study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of anhydrous alcohol as a new adjuvant in the treatment of a GCT.

One hundred and three GCT patients were treated and followed up for an average of 6 years (range, 1-29.3 years) with a mean age of 33 years (range, 16-67 years). Curettage, additional burring, and reconstruction with a bone graft or cementing were performed in 69 patients. Among them, anhydrous alcohol was used as an adjuvant in 38 patients.

Four (10.5%) patients given the anhydrous alcohol treatment had a local recurrence, whereas 15 recurrences (48.4%) developed in 31 patients treated without the anhydrous alcohol (p=0.001). There were no anhydrous alcohol-related complications. According to Kaplan-Meier's analysis and the log rank test, the anhydrous alcohol adjuvant showed a significant effect (p=0.014) in preventing the recurrence of GCT.

The data suggests that anhydrous alcohol can be used as an effective adjuvant without potential risks for the treatment of a GCT of the long bone.