Spinal tumors can cause different complaints, especially as they grow and damage the tissues where they are located. Tumors can affect your spinal cord or nerve roots, blood vessels, or neighboring organs other than your spinal column. The signs and symptoms of a spinal tumor can be the following:

• The most common complaint is back pain. Back pain does not ease with rest, but can be more severe at night.
• Loss of sense or muscle weakness, especially in your arms or legs
• Difficulty in walking, it can sometimes lead to falls.
• Loss of bowel or bladder function (inability to urinate and defecate/control)
• A palsy that affects part or all of the arm or leg, that develops slowly or rapidly may develop.

Spinal tumors progress at different rates depending on the type of tumor.

There are many causes of back pain, and most back pain is not caused by a tumor. However, because early diagnosis and treatment are important for vertebral tumors, tell your doctor the following information about your back pain:

• Persistent and progressive
• It's not about the activity
• It gets worse at night
• You have a history of cancer and have developed new back pain

Seek medical aid immediately in the following cases:

• Progressive muscle weakness or paresthaesia in your legs or arms
• Changes in bowel or bladder function

Course (Prognosis)

What determines the prognosis of a spinal tumor is whether the existing tumor is good or bad. Benign tumors usually heal without problems with proper surgery. The fact that the course is good for malignant tumors originating from the spine itself (primary) depends on the fact that the tumor does not spread to another organ, is completely removed by surgery, and has a good response to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. 

The course of spinal tumors caused by another cancer focus (metastasis) depends mainly on the type of present cancer, the presence of spread to another organ other than the spine, and the general condition of the patient.

Vertebral tumors, both good and bad, can compress the nerves in your spinal cord, leading to a loss of movement or sense below the location of the tumor. This can sometimes cause changes in bowel and bladder function. Nerve damage can be permanent.

A vertebral tumor can also damage the bones of the spine, making it unstable; which increases the risk of a sudden fracture or collapse of the spine, which can injure the spinal cord.

However, if the tumor is diagnosed early and treated quickly, it may be possible to prevent further loss of function and restore nerve function. Depending on the location of the tumor, a tumor that presses on the spinal cord itself can be life-threatening.

Vertebral tumors can sometimes be ignored because their symptoms are similar to those that occur more often. Therefore, it is especially important for your doctor to know your complete medical history and conduct general physical and neurological examinations.

If your doctor suspects a vertebral tumor, one or more of the following tests can help to confirm the diagnosis and determine the location of the tumor:

Plain radiography: Plain radiography is used to show erosion of the pedicles or vertebral body. However, radiological findings appear only when bone destruction reaches 30-50%.

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI uses a powerful magnet and radio waves to produce accurate images of your spine, spinal cord and nerves. MRI is usually the preferred test for diagnosing vertebral tumors. A contrast agent that helps to highlight certain tissues and structures can be injected into a vein on your foot or forearm during the test.
• Computed tomography (CT) scan. MRI shows soft tissues in more detail, while CT is superior and useful for showing bone structures. CT scan can be used in combination with MRI. In addition, lung, abdominal (abdominal) tomography is performed to determine the primary focus in patients with metastases whose origin is unknown.

Due to the possibility that metastatic patients may also have lesions in another spinal location (15%), imaging methods should be taken to include the entire spine.

Bone scanning(scintigraphy): It is used to confirm whether there is a lesion in another bone other than the spine, especially in metastasis patients.

Positron emission tomography (PET) –CT: Allows for rapid screening and staging of systemic disease. It can also be taken for control purposes to determine the response to chemotherapy in patients with cancer.