Spinal Tumor

A spinal tumor occurs when an abnormal or cancerous growth develops on your spinal cord or the bones and structures of your spine.

In general, we can classify spinal tumors in four different ways. These groupings include:

• Primary Spinal Tumors: Abnormal growths that began in the spine. Although uncommon, these types of tumors are most often found in children or individuals who have rare genetic disorders, like Neurofibromatosis 2 or Von Hippel-Lindau Disease.
• Secondary Spinal Tumors: These growths spread or “metastasized” to the spine from cancers that were located elsewhere in the body. For example, cancers from the lungs, which are protected by the rib cage and upper back, can easily spread to the thoracic spine. (There’s no special reason for this; just simple proximity.) In women, tumors can also can easily migrate from the breast to the thoracic spine. In men, cancerous polyps from the prostate may invade the sacrum (the triangular bone at the bottom of the spine) or the lumbar spine (lower back).
• Benign: These types of tumors do not spread to other parts of the body. But, they can cause complications or discomfort if they press on the spinal cord or nerves.
• Malignant: These destructive tumors will spread from the spine to nearby tissues. If you have a malignant tumor of the spine, then your doctor will classify your tumor as fast or slow-growing. Fast-growing tumors are also called aggressive tumors, because they can cause quite a bit of damage at fast rates.

Where Do Spinal Tumors Grow?

There are so many different types of spinal tumors that doctors group these cancers according to where they grow. Often, the location of the tumor and it’s status as benign vs. malignant will determine the symptoms that result. The 3 main areas of the spine where spine tumors develop include:

Vertebral Column Tumors (VCT): These types of cancers affect the bony parts and cushioning components of your spine: the vertebrae and spinal discs. (Your vertebral column is simply the medical term for your spine.)

If you have a VCT, then it is likely to be classified as a secondary tumor. For example, multiple myeloma often spreads from white blood cells to the bone marrow. Moreover, because your spinal column is the most exposed part of your spine, it is particularly prone to these types of tumors.

Common types of primary, malignant VCTs include:

• Osteosarcoma: The most common type of malignant spine cancer. This type of VCT develops most often in young adults, affecting the sacrum and lower back.
• Chordoma: A type of bone cancer that develops where the spine and skull meet. A chordoma often grows near the carotid artery from the heart, which makes it problematic to remove.
• Ewing’s Sarcoma:  A form of VCT that causes severe back pain, fever, and fractured bones.
• Chondrosarcoma: This type of tumor invades the cartilage of your spine and pelvis.

…to name a very few!

Intramedullary Tumors (IMT): Intramedullary Tumors grow within the core of the spinal cord, also known as the spinal medulla. These tumors usually arise from the glial cells, which act as the “glue” to hold our nervous system together. Despite their often benign status, these tumors can be difficult or dangerous to remove.

The 3 most common types of ITMs are:

• Astrocytomas: These cancers begin in the astrocytes that support the spinal cord and then intertwine with the tissue of the medulla. Because they penetrate the spinal cord like a toxic vine, a doctor cannot always remove them.
• Ependymomas: A form of abnormal growth that develops in the spinal cord where the cerebrospinal fluid washes the spine and delivers nutrients.
• Hemangioblastomas: A subtype of ITM that originates in the blood vessels that nourish your spinal cord.

Intradural-Extramedullary Tumors: Three membranes, known collectively as the meninges, wrap around and protect the spinal cord: the dura, arachnoid, and pia mater. Intradural-Extramedullary Tumors form inside the dura mater (hence, the intradural part of the name). However, these tumors are also located outside of the spinal medulla. Hence, we refer to them extramedullary to stress that they do not reside on the spinal cord.

If you have this type of tumor, then you may have a:

• Meningioma: A type of cancer that affects the dura mater, one of the three meninges. Unlike like other types of spinal tumors, meningiomas affect women much more often than men.
• Schwannomas: These tumors develop in our Schwann cells, a supportive type of cell that protects the nerves of our spine. For this reason, you may also hear of these growths referred to as nerve sheath tumors. These tumors can cause cysts, blood clots, haemorrhages, and fat breakdown.
• Neurofibromas: Another key type of nerve sheath tumor. Doctors find it very difficult to tell these tumors apart from Schwannomas. However, neurofibromas rarely cause any of the above symptoms like clotting.