Back pain is a common early symptom of spinal tumors. Pain may also spread beyond your back to your hips, legs, feet or arms and may worsen over time — even with treatment. Spinal tumors progress at different rates depending on the type of tumor.
Primary tumors originate in the spine or spinal cord, and metastatic or secondary tumors result from cancer spreading from another site to the spine. Spinal tumors are referred to in two ways. By the region of the spine in which they occur. These basic areas are cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacrum.
The cause of primary spinal tumors is unknown. Some primary spinal tumors occur with certain inherited gene mutations. Spinal tumors can be located: Inside the spinal cord (intramedullary)
Primary spinal tumors are rare but are more likely to occur in adults between the ages of 65 and 74 and in children between the ages of 10 and 16.
Known risk factors for spine cancer include: Prior history of cancer, with breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma most likely to spread to the spine. Compromised immune system. Hereditary disorders, including Von Hippel-Lindau disease and neurofibromatosis (NF2)
Spinal cancer is graded in the following ways: Grade 1 spinal cancer: The tumor grows slowly and rarely spreads into nearby tissues. It may be possible to completely remove the tumor with surgery. Grade 2 spinal cancer: The tumor grows slowly but may spread into nearby tissue or recur.
Spinal tumors or growths of any kind can lead to pain, neurological problems and sometimes paralysis. A spinal tumor can be life-threatening and cause permanent disability. Treatment for a spinal tumor may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or other medications.
Primary tumors often progress slowly over weeks to years. Tumors in the spinal cord usually cause symptoms, sometimes over large portions of the body. Tumors outside the spinal cord may grow for a long time before causing nerve damage.
Surgery, using general anesthesia, is often effective in completely removing certain types of spinal cord tumors, such as ependymomas and hemangioblastomas.
Signs of a spinal tumor
Back pain that often radiates to other areas and worsens at night. Pain at the tumor site. Radiating numbness, tingling, or weakness. Less sensitivity to heat, cold, and pain.
Primary tumors arising from the spinal cord, spinal nerve roots and dura are rare compared to CNS tumors that arise in the brain. Overall prevalence is estimated at one spinal tumor for every four intracranial lesions.
There are several types of masses that can be found in the spine: Some are malignant tumors (spinal cancer), which means they can spread to other areas of the body. Some are benign tumors, which means they are not aggressive and don't spread, but it doesn't mean they are harmless.
An MRI scan is the most reliable method of diagnosing spinal cord tumors, although additional tests are needed to confirm the type of tumor. MRI is also useful in identifying spinal cord compression, which occurs when a tumor presses against the nerves within the spinal cord.
Spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
MRI is usually the preferred test to diagnose tumors of the spinal cord and surrounding tissues. A contrast agent that helps highlight certain tissues and structures may be injected into a vein in your hand or forearm during the test.
However, James Schuster, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Penn Medicine, says the vast majority of spinal cord tumors—90 to 95%—that he sees in clinic have stemmed from cancer somewhere else in the body.
Spine X-rays can help detect: Fractures (breaks) Tumors (abnormal masses of cells)
Some people live active and fulfilling lives with spinal tumors that don't grow or cause symptoms. In some cases, people with metastatic spinal tumors need to continue treatments, including chemotherapy or radiation, to keep the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.
Typically, a spine tumor causes pain in the spine itself. You can feel pain in your cervical (neck), thoracic (middle of the back), or lumbar spine (lower back). Tumors can also cause pain, numbness, or weakness in your arms or legs by pressing on the nerves of your spinal cord.
Spinal cord tumors and vertebral tumors can be cancerous or noncancerous, but either form can result in disability and even death.
Overall, 1-year survival rates in surgery for spinal metastasis vary between 0 and 83%, depending on the primary cancer tissue type.
As the disease progresses, spinal cancer symptoms may grow to include weakness, inability to move the legs and, eventually, paralysis.
More than 90 out of 100 people (more than 90%) with ependymoma that start in the spine survive for 5 years or more. These statistics for adults with ependymoma are for relative survival. Relative survival takes into account that some people die of causes other than cancer.
The prognosis with respect to survival essentially depends on the biology of the primary tumor: two-year survival rates for patients with spinal metastases range from 9% (lung cancer) to 44% (breast or prostate cancer) (4).