The effect of radiation on the shear strength of acrylic bone cement.

Bone loss due to secondary neoplastic disease of bone has frequently presented the orthopedic surgeon with difficult or insoluble problems of surgical management. Local radiation is the most effective, and widely used form of therapy for this type of metastatic disease. Levels of radiation in vitro comparable to therapeutic doses, as well as levels 6 times that commonly used in vivo on patients, demonstrate no significant effect on the mechanical properties of acrylic bone cement.