Spinal Cord Tumors

What Is It?

The spinal cord, which lies protected inside the spine (backbones), contains bundles of nerves that transmit messages between the brain and the nerves throughout the body. A tumor on or near the spinal cord can disrupt this communication, impair function and seriously threaten health.

Spinal cord tumors are masses of abnormal cells that grow in the spinal cord, between its protective sheaths, or on the surface of the sheath that covers the spinal cord. About 10,000 people in the United States develop spinal cord tumors each year. Most noncancerous tumors develop within the spinal cord rather than spreading from other parts of the body. These are called primary tumors, and they usually are noncancerous (benign). Primary spinal cord cancers rarely spread to other parts of the body. This is unusual, which has made spinal cord cancers a focus of scientific investigation; their unique qualities may suggest new methods of cancer prevention or treatment.