How common are spinal tumors?
Dr. Wong: Spinal tumors are relatively uncommon. I’m not talking about primary spinal tumors, but spinal tumors that arise from metastases, that means spread from other types of primary malignancies, are very common. They can cause a considerable amount of pain and suffering for a patient. Breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer and melanoma are all common metastases or spreads from the primary source that can be located in other organs to the spine. In addition to that, there are tumors of the blood system and of the marrow system that can arise within the vertebrae such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma as well. Is it considered a late stage when the cancer spreads to the spinal cord? Dr. Wong: It may not be the late stage, and I’d like to point out that we’re talking about is to the spine itself and not necessarily to the spinal cord. The spine is the bony structure part that we’re seeing. The spinal cord, the spinal contents and the nerves are all within the spine. So, it’s not n
