Spinal & Spinal Cord Tumors

Tumors that develop within the spine and spinal cord may be benign or malignant, and in either case may impact the nerves around them causing pain and neurological deficits, with the most severe symptom being paralysis. The most often-diagnosed types of spinal tumors include extradural, intradural-extramedullary and intramedullary tumors. Extradural tumors start in the vertebrae and spread to other areas of the body, while intradural-extramedullary tumors start within the arachnoid membrane that surrounds the spinal cord or in the nerve roots spreading out from the spinal cord. Intramedullary tumors start in the supporting cells of the spinal cord or more rarely, are tumors that have spread (metastasized) from elsewhere in the body to the spinal cord. Symptoms of all of these tumors can include back pain, walking difficulty, weakness in the arms and legs, pain that radiates into the arms or legs, bowel or bladder dysfunction and possibly, paralysis. Neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons now use advanced techniques to reach spinal tumors that were once thought to be inaccessible, and when this type of surgery is appropriate, it is often a treatment of choice. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery are also potential treatments.