What is a Spine Tumours?
Spine tumours are abnormal growths that occur in the bones of the spine or inside the spinal canal. The most common type of spine tumours are secondary tumours where cancers from elsewhere spread to the spine. In primary spine tumours, they arise from components of the spine such as nerves (nerve sheath tumours) or nerve linings (meningiomas).
Symptoms of a spine tumour:
- Neck or back pain
- Pain that doesn’t seem to get better with treatment or pain at night
- Pain, tingling, burning or numbness of the arms
- Pain, tingling, burning or numbness of the legs
- Weakness of the arms/legs/hands or feet
- Associated loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
Treatment of spinal tumours very much depend on whether it is spread from elsewhere (secondary spine tumour) or primary spine tumour. An accurate diagnosis and staging is done with investigations such as MRI, CT scans, Bone scans and/or PET scans and blood tests. In some cases, biopsies are needed to determine the diagnosis before treatment is instituted.
In addition to surgery, the oncologist will also need to be consulted where other treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormonal therapy may be required. This can help in better tumour control in the region of the operation.
Types of treatment:
- Brace
- Medications
- Cement injections (vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty)
- Keyhole, minimally-invasive spinal stabilisation surgery
- Spinal stabilisation and decompression surgery (to free the spinal nerves)
- Corpectomy (Removal of parts of or the whole tumour)
