Description & Objectives

Intended Audience

The intended audience for this course includes medical oncologists, neurologists, neuroradiologists, radiation therapists, interventional radiologists, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and allied health professionals who specialize in the treatment of patients with spinal tumors.

Needs Statement

The spinal column is the most common site for bone metastasis. Estimates indicate that between 30-70 percent of patients with cancer will experience spread of cancer to their spine. Common primary cancers that spread to the spine are lung, breast and prostate. Prompt diagnosis and identification of the primary malignancy is crucial to overall treatment. Although a common site of metastatic tumors, spinal tumors are often undertreated. Less than optimal management of spinal tumors can result in poor quality of life and a shortened lifespan.

Improving management of spinal tumors should involve the coordination of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, including family medicine providers, oncologists, surgeons and allied health professionals. The goal of the course is to improve patient survival and preserve neurologic function by educating physicians and other health-care professionals about the recent advances in diagnostic and treatment options so that they can apply them appropriately in their practice.

Course Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, participants will provide better patient care through an increased ability to:

• Reflect on the complexity of spinal tumor treatments from a patient’s perspective
• Outline techniques for performing spinal radiosurgery and review indications and outcomes for a range of spinal lesions
• Review differential diagnoses of spinal tumors and explain imaging approaches for spinal tumors
• Present the background and rationale for percutaneous treatment of spinal metastases, explain vertebral augmentation in pathological compression procedures, and apply a complementary team approach to the treatment of pathological fractures
• Identify advances in spine tumor embolization and spinal arteriovenous malformation treatment and recognize spinal cord vascular anatomy
• Review surgical management of primary and metastatic spinal tumors and outline the biomechanics of spinal reconstruction
• Identify types of tumors amenable to en-bloc tumor resection and describe surgical planning as well as technique for tumor removal
• Determine indications for utilization of stereotactic radiosurgery for spinal lesions and discuss tumor control rates using stereotactic radiosurgery
• Explain radiosurgery dosing for the control of benign tumors of the central nervous system and compare and contrast radiosurgical platforms in the treatment of benign cervical spinal tumors
• Discuss the role of medical oncologic intervention in spinal tumor treatment
• Review the emotional role that pain plays in suffering, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of opioids and introduce an underutilized treatment plan for dealing with tumor-related pain