Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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Metastatic spinal disease most frequently arises from carcinomas of the breast, lung, prostate, and kidney. Management of spinal metastases (SpM) is controversial in the literature. Recent studies advocate more aggressive surgical resection than older studies which called for radiation therapy alone, challenging previously held beliefs in conservative therapy. ⋯ Surgery has been shown to greatly increase quality of life in patients who can tolerate the procedure, even in those previously treated with radiotherapy. Surgery for SpM can be used as first-line therapy for preservation of function and symptom relief. Future studies of management of SpM are warranted and primary tumor diagnosis should be studied to determine contribution to survival.