Skip to main content.

Spinal Tumors

What are spinal tumors?

Tumors are lumps of tissue that form when cells grow uncontrollably. There are two basic types of tumors: benign and malignant.

Benign tumors are not cancerous and do not spread from their original (primary) location. They can, however, come back (recur) at their original location.

Malignant tumors are cancerous and have the potential to spread cancer cells to other parts of the body (metastasis). Both types of tumors can affect your child’s backbone.

Spinal tumors can be located in the bones of the spine (vertebrae) or in the soft tissue between and around the vertebrae.

One of the backbone’s jobs is to protect the spinal cord, the column of nerves that control the limbs.

The spinal cord runs through small, arch-shaped holes in each of the vertebrae.

If a tumor develops within this small space, it can press on the spinal cord and cause pain. In some cases, it can bring on loss of bodily functions, such as movement in arms or legs or bowel and bladder control.

How do you evaluate spinal tumors?

When you and your child visit our clinic for back pain, we will ask about warning signs of a serious problem in the spine:

  • How bad is the back pain? Has it lasted for more than two months? Is the pain getting worse instead of better?
  • Does the back pain wake your child up from a deep sleep?
  • Does the back pain cause funny feelings in her leg muscles? Has she felt numbness, tingling or weakness in her legs?
  • Does the back pain disrupt bowel or bladder control?
  • Is the back pain happening along with severe weight loss or high fever?

As a first step, we will take X-rays of your child’s backbone. We will probably ask to take an MRI too. Using these tests, doctors can identify most spinal tumors.

Your child may also need to have a biopsy. In this test, the doctor inserts a needle into your child’s back and takes a small sample of the tumor to look at under a microscope.

This helps doctors figure out exactly what kind of tumor your child has. It can also help you and your child’s doctor develop a plan for treatment.

Who gets spinal tumors?

Any child can get a spinal tumor but they are rare in children.

What is your experience with spinal tumors?

Children’s Hospital has the first clinic in the United States where doctors who specialize in bones, joints and muscles (orthopedists) and specialists in cancer (oncologists) work together in the same program.

Our Bone Tumor and Sarcoma Clinic is one of the most experienced in the world. We also team with our neurosurgery division to manage tumors of the spinal cord at our Complex Spine Clinic.

Our clinics’ doctors, nurses, physical therapists and social workers specialize in treating and caring for children and their families. In addition, we have the only clinics specifically for children in the nation that work closely with adult cancer programs.

We share expertise and access to highly sophisticated equipment with the University of Washington. We also work closely with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Northwest Tissue Center.

How do you treat spinal tumors?

At Children’s, our patients receive care from a team made up of specialists from many areas of the hospital. Our team includes staff from several divisions at Children’s: