Spinal tumors
Most spinal column tumors have spread from another
area of the body (metastatic), with the majority originally
coming from tumors in the breast, prostate, kidney,
lung or thyroid.
These malignant tumors usually produce pain that does
not diminish with rest, and the nighttime pain may be
worse than daytime pain.
The metastatic tumors are usually associated with other
symptoms such as loss of appetite, unplanned weight
loss, nausea and vomiting, or fever/chills/shakes. This
type of tumor tends to occur in older adults. Often,
the patient already has a known primary tumor in another
part of the body (see Figure
1).
Primary tumors (non-metastatic) of the spinal column
are very rare. Primary tumors tend to occur in younger
adults.
If the primary tumor causes a fracture in the spine
or leads to neurological problems, surgery is usually
needed to stabilize the spine.
If the tumor causes back pain only, and is sensitive
to radiation, radiation therapy can often diminish the
pain without surgery.
By: Peter
F. Ullrich, Jr., MD
September 8, 1999
Updated February 28, 2001
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