HLA Sensitization Following Major Cortical Allograft Bone Procedures
HLA Sensitization Following Major Cortical Allograft Bone Procedures
The purpose of this study is to find out whether or not antibodies to the donor bone are
 present in the blood of patients who receive the donor bone.
Patients who have bone cancer often have the cancerous bone removed by surgery and replaced
 with a piece of bone taken from a donor (a person who donates parts of their body to be used
 for transplants after their death). However, sometimes this replacement bone does not heal
 together with the patient's bone. The reason the bone does not heal is not known but it is
 thought that the patient's body may react to the donor bone by producing antibodies against
 cells on the donor bone. The purpose of this study is to find out whether or not antibodies
 to the donor bone are present in the blood of patients who receive the donor bone. You have
 been asked to participate in this study because you are scheduled to undergo this type of
 surgery.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients twelve years or older who are scheduled for massive fresh-frozen human
 structural bone allograft implantation at participating centers will be given the
 opportunity to participate in the study. All patients must have a reconstruction of
 the involved long bone with either an intercalary graft, an osteoarticular graft, or
 an allograft/endoprosthesis composite graft. The junction or union site studied will
 be the cortical-cortical, host allograft junction site, not the cancellous interfaces.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients who do not require major weight bearing cortical allograft bone grafts will
 be excluded. Also, women who are or could potentially become pregnant will be excluded
 from the study.