Description

Spinal tumor is a growth of cells that occurs in the bones of the spine. A vertebral tumour is also called a spinal tumor. The bones of the spine are called vertebrae. The spinal column is made up of many small vertebrae stacked on top of one another. The vertebrae, keep the body upright. They enclose and protect the spinal cord.

Spinal tumors can be cancerous or non-cancerous. A benign tumor vertebral also called a benign tumor vertebral tumour. Vertebral, cancerous tumors are called malignant tumors of the vertebrae.

Most of the malignant tumors vertebral fractures are caused by cancer that starts in any part of the body and spreads to the spine. The cancer spreads from one organ to another part of the body is called metastatic cancer. Cancers that affect the cells of the blood and bone marrow can also cause malignant tumors of the vertebrae.

Spinal tumors that originate in the bones of the spine and does not spread from elsewhere are rare. Another name for these tumors, primary bone tumors.

The treatment for tumors vertebral includes surgery, radiation therapy and medications, including chemotherapy. Small and slow-growing spinal tumors may not need treatment right away. The treatment that is best for your spinal tumor depends on your situation. Your health care team considers the type of tumor you have, if it is cancerous, and their location within the spinal column.

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of tumors of the vertebrae are:

  • Back pain in the area of the tumor.
  • The back pain that radiates or is triggered in the back by a nearby area.
  • The back pain that is worse at night.
  • Changes in sensation, such as numbness or a pins and needles sensation.
  • The loss of the ability to move a body part.
  • The loss of control over the bladder and bowel.
  • The muscle weakness.

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with a doctor or other health care professional if you have any symptoms that worry you.

Some spinal tumor symptoms are similar to symptoms caused by other conditions. For example, back pain is very common, and the majority of back pain is not caused by a tumor. It is sometimes difficult to decide whether to see a health professional when you have back pain.

Make an appointment with your health care provider if:

  • The pain is constant and is getting worse.
  • The pain does not seem to be caused by a specific activity.
  • The pain is worse at night.
  • You have a history of cancer and back pain is something new.

Seek medical attention right away if you have back pain along with:

  • Muscle weakness in the arms or legs.
  • The loss of control of the bowel or the bladder.
  • Numbness or tingling sensation in the genital area.

Causes

The majority of tumors vertebral fractures are caused by cancer that starts in any part of the body. The cancer spreads from one organ to another place in the body is called metastatic cancer. Any type of cancer can spread to the spine. The majority of tumors vertebral fractures are caused by the cancer spreading through the breast, lung or prostate. Other types of cancer tend to spread to the spine are kidney cancer, and thyroid cancer.

Cancers that affect the cells of the blood and bone marrow can also cause tumors vertebral. These cancers include multiple myeloma and lymphoma.

Spinal tumors that begin in the spine are rare. It is not clear what causes them.

Spinal tumors that begin in the spine occur when the cells in the bones of the spine develop changes in their DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell the cell what to do. In healthy cells, the DNA contains the instructions to grow and multiply at a set rate. The instructions that tell cells to die at a set time. In tumor cells, changes in DNA to give different instructions. Changes to say to the tumor cell to make many more cells quickly. Tumor cells can continue living when healthy cells would die. This makes too many cells.

Sometimes, the cells develop changes in their DNA, they become cancer cells. The cancerous cells can invade and destroy healthy body tissue. You can break away and spread to other parts of the body.

Examples of vertebral fractures, tumors that start in the spine and are not cancerous are:

  • Hemangioma.
  • The osteoid osteoma.
  • Osteoblastoma.
  • Aneurysmal bone cyst.
  • The osteochondroma.
  • Enchondroma.
  • Chondroblastoma.

Examples of vertebral fractures, tumors that start in the spine and are cancerous are:

  • Chondrosarcoma.
  • Ewing's sarcoma.
  • The Osteosarcoma.
  • The chordoma.

Risk factors

The risk of vertebral fractures tumors is higher in people who have cancer or who have received treatment for cancer. The majority of tumors vertebral fractures are caused by cancer that starts in any part of the body and spreads to the spine. Cancer that spreads to the spine most often starts in the breast, lung or prostate.

Complications

The complications caused by tumors of the vertebrae are:

  • Compression of the spinal cord. Spinal cord compression occurs when a tumor grows to the press on the spinal cord or the nerves nearby. This often causes back pain in the first. Later can cause weakness and numbness in the part of the body controlled by the affected nerves. You may have difficulty walking and loss of control of the bladder and the intestines.
  • The spinal instability. The spinal instability can occur if a tumor spinal weakens the bones in the spine. Bones weakened by the tumor can break or come out of alignment. This can make it difficult for the spine to keep the body upright. The spinal instability usually causes pain and can lead to weakness.

The treatments can help prevent or treat these complications.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of tumors of the vertebrae usually starts with a physical exam and ask questions about your symptoms. Imaging tests can show the size and location of the tumor. A sample of tissue can be removed from the tumor and tested in a laboratory to make the diagnosis.

Exams

Your health care professional may start by asking about your symptoms and your health history. If you have cancer or have been treated for cancer in the past, tell your health care professional. The majority of tumors vertebral fractures are caused by cancer that starts in any part of the body and spreads to the spine. Knowing your full health history can be useful for the understanding of their symptoms.

The health care provider can examine your body. This may involve the checking of your spine to points of pain and other symptoms that may be related. This assessment may also include a neurological exam. This exam tests different parts of your body to understand how your nerves are working. The health care professional can check your balance, coordination, strength and reflexes.

Imaging tests

Imaging tests create pictures of the body. You can show the location and size of a tumor, spinal. Imaging tests may include:

  • X-ray.
  • The magnetic resonance imaging.
  • Computed tomography.
  • The positron emission tomography scan, also called a PET.

Biopsy

A biopsy is a procedure to remove a sample of tissue for testing in a lab. For vertebral fractures, tumors, the tissue is often removed using a fine needle. The needle passes through the skin and into the tumor. A health care professional uses an imaging test, such as a ct scan to guide the needle into the right place. The health care provider uses a needle to remove a sample of tumor cells.

The biopsy sample goes to a lab for analysis. The tests can show the type of tumor and whether it is cancerous. Other special tests to give more details. Your health care team uses these results to make a treatment plan.

Determine the type of biopsy you need and the details of how to do the biopsy requires careful planning by the health care team. Health professionals need to perform the biopsy in a way that does not interfere with the future of surgery to remove the tumor. For this reason, ask for a referral to a health care team with a wide experience in the treatment of tumors vertebral before the biopsy.

Treatment

Treatments for tumors of the vertebrae are surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy and other medications. Other options may include minimally invasive procedures to hurt the tumor cells or to stabilize the bones in the spine. Not all spinal tumor treatment needs. Sometimes, careful monitoring, you can see a tumor of the spine to see if it grows.

Your health care team takes into account many factors when creating your spinal tumor treatment plan. These factors include the type of tumor of the vertebrae that has and its location. The team also considers your overall health and your preferences.

Careful monitoring

Many tumors vertebral fractures are found before they cause symptoms. May not need treatment right away. Instead, your health care team can carefully monitor the tumor to see if it grows. Some tumors vertebral never require treatment.

Careful monitoring could be the right approach for small tumors that are not cancerous. It could also be suitable for slow-growing tumors that are not causing symptoms.

Surgery

The goal of surgery is to remove all of the tumor to the vertebral. The surgeons take care not to cause damage to the spinal cord or surrounding nerves during the surgery.

Sometimes it is not possible to remove the entire tumor. In these situations, the surgeon may remove as much of the tumor as possible. Other treatments may be used after surgery to hurt any of tumor cells that are left. The options may include radiation, chemotherapy, or ablation treatments.

The surgery can also be used to relieve the symptoms caused by a tumor, spinal. If the tumor causes pain that is not relieved by other treatments, or if the tumor compresses the spinal cord, surgery may help to provide relief.

Vertebroplasty

Vertebroplasty is a treatment that is injected bone cement into a crack or weakened spinal bone. A similar procedure called kyphoplasty. These procedures can help to strengthen a bone weakened by a tumor. They can help relieve the pain.

Ablation treatments

Ablation is a procedure that is applied to the treatment directly to the tumor cells in order to harm them. Some types of ablation apply energy to the cells of the tumor that causes it to heat up. Procedures that do this include radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation. The use of extreme cold to injure to the cells in the tumor is called cryoablation. Sometimes the ablation consists in the use of alcohol to hurt the tumor cells.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is of tumors with powerful rays of energy. The energy can come from X-rays, protons or other sources.

For vertebral fractures, tumors, radiation therapy may be used after surgery. This can damage any tumor cells that might be left. When surgery is not an option, radiation therapy may be used in its place. Radiation therapy is also used to help relieve the symptoms caused by a tumor, spinal. It can slow the growth of a tumor spine and relieve the pain.

Health care teams take great care to aim the radiation at the exact spot needed to control the tumor. They are working to limit the amount of radiation that reaches the nearby organs, including the spinal cord. This helps to reduce the risk of complications caused by radiation therapy. Types of radiation therapy that can help in this way include stereotactic body radiotherapy and proton beam radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy and other medications

Chemotherapy treats the cancer with strong medications. This therapy could be an option for the treatment of cancerous, tumors, vertebral. You can help to slow the growth of cancer. The majority of tumors of the vertebrae that are not cancer do not respond to chemotherapy treatments.

The targeted therapy drugs may also be an option for the treatment of cancerous, tumors, vertebral. Targeted therapy for cancer is a treatment that uses drugs that attack specific chemicals in cancer cells. By blocking these chemicals, specific treatments can cause cancer cells to die. The cancer cells can be tested to see if targeted therapy is likely to help you.

Alternative medicine

There is No alternative medicine treatments have been found to cure tumors vertebral. But some of the treatments that are used along with the treatments of your health care team can help you to deal with a vertebral tumour diagnosis.

Treatments that can help in this way are:

  • Art therapy.
  • Exercise.
  • Meditation.
  • Music therapy.
  • The relaxation exercises.

Talk with your health care team about your options.

Coping and support

Learning that you have a vertebral tumour can be overwhelming. But you can take steps to cope after their diagnosis. Try:

Find out all you can about the tumor in his spinal

Write down your questions and bring them to your appointments. As your health professional responds to your questions, take notes. Or ask a friend or family member to come along to take notes.

The more that you and your family know and understand about your care, the more confident you will feel when the time comes to make treatment decisions.

Get support

Find someone with whom to share their feelings and concerns. You can have a close friend or family member who is a good listener. Or speak with a member of the clergy or a counselor.

Take care of yourself

Choosing a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains whenever possible. Consult with your healthcare professional to see when you can start exercising again. Get enough sleep to feel rested.

Reduce the stress in your life by taking time to relax activities, such as listening to music or writing in a journal.

Preparing for your appointment

If you have symptoms that worry you, make an appointment with a doctor or other health care professional. If you have a tumor of the spine is likely that you will be referred to a specialist.

Specialists who care for people with spinal tumors include:

  • Physicians who diagnose and treat brain and spinal cord conditions, called neurologists.
  • The surgeons operating on the brain and the spinal cord, call of neurosurgeons.
  • Physicians who diagnose and treat tumors that affect the bones, called orthopedic oncologists.
  • The surgeons operating on the bones and joints, called orthopedic surgeons.
  • The medical uses of radiation to treat cancer and tumors, so-called radiation oncologists.
  • The doctors use drugs to treat cancer, called the medical oncologists.

Here's some information to help you prepare for your appointment.

What you can do

  • Write down any symptoms you've been experiencing and for how long you have had them.
  • The list of your key medical information, including all the conditions that you have and the names of the medicines you are taking. Include prescription drugs and medicines you can buy without a prescription.
  • Note any family history of brain or spinal cord tumors, especially in a first-degree relative, such as a father or a brother.
  • Have a family member or friend. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember all the information provided to you during an appointment. Someone who goes with you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
  • Write down questions to ask your health care professional.

Questions to ask at your first appointment are:

  • What can be causing my symptoms?
  • There are other possible causes?
  • What kinds of tests do I need? Do these tests require any special preparation?
  • What do you recommend for the following steps in the determination of my diagnosis and the treatment?
  • You should see a specialist?

Questions to ask an oncologist or neurologist include:

  • I have a vertebral tumour?
  • What type of tumor you have?
  • How will the tumor to grow with time?
  • What could be the consequences?
  • What are the objectives of my treatment?
  • Am I a candidate for surgery? What are the risks?
  • Am I a candidate for radiation? What are the risks?
  • There is a role for chemotherapy?
  • What treatment approach do you recommend?
  • If the first treatment does not succeed, what are we going to do next?
  • What is the outlook for my condition?
  • I need a second opinion?

In addition to the questions you have prepared, do not hesitate to ask any questions that may arise during your appointment.

What to expect from your doctor

Be prepared to answer questions about your symptoms and your health history. The questions may include:

  • What are your symptoms?
  • When did you first notice these symptoms?
  • The symptoms worsened over time?
  • If you have pain, where does the pain seems to start?
  • Does the pain spread to other parts of your body?
  • Have you participated in any of the activities that could explain the pain, as a new exercise or a long stretch of gardening?
  • Have you experienced any weakness or numbness in the legs?
  • Have you had any difficulty walking?
  • Has had problems with bladder or bowel function?
  • Have you been diagnosed with any other medical condition?
  • Are you currently taking any medicine, including prescription drugs and medications that can be purchased without a prescription?
  • Do you have any family history of, or non-cancerous tumors?
Symptoms and treatment of the tumor, Spinal