1. ¹Children's Cancer Research Institute (CCRI), St. Anna Children's Hospital, Vienna, Austria
2. ²Clinical Institute of Clinical Pathology, Vienna University Hospital, Vienna, Austria
3. ³Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Vienna University Hospital, Vienna, Austria
4. ⁴Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Karl Franzens University, Graz, Austria
5. ⁵Department of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research, Vienna University, Vienna, Austria
6. ⁶L. Boltzmann Institute for Leukemia Research and Hematology, Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria

Correspondence: Reinhard Windhager, M.D., Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Karl Franzens University, Auenbruggerplatz 9, A - 8036 Graz, Austria; e-mail: reinhard.windhager@kfunigraz.ac.at; fax: 43-316-385-2957.

Accepted 21 June 2001.

Abstract

The effects of insulin-like growth factor-I on bone tissue and its role in bone development have been extensively investigated, but there is little information on its role in the pathogenesis of aneurysmal bone cyst. Therefore, using the techniques of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, the authors studied the expression of insulin-like growth factor-I in 19 specimens of aneurysmal bone cyst. Insulin-like growth factor-I or specific mRNA sequences encoding for insulin-like growth factor-I were detectable in all specimens tested and were mainly localized in multinucleate giant cells. In contrast, only insignificant levels of insulin-like growth factor-I expression were detectable in normal human bone tissue. Taken together with the previously reported role of insulin-like growth factor-I in the pathogenesis of giant cell tumor, the findings of this study suggest that insulin-like growth factor-I may play a role in the pathogenesis of aneurysmal bone cyst.