Spine cancer is the uncontrolled growth of malfunctioning cells in the spinal cord, causing weakness, back pain, and paralysis. It is usually treated with surgery and radiation therapy. The cancer is caused by genetic damage to cells and can spread from other parts of the body. Symptoms include pain, weakness, and incontinence.
Spine cancer is the destructive, uncontrolled growth and reproduction of malfunctioning cells in the spinal cord. A group of such cells, called a malignant neoplasm or malignant tumor, will grow and spread to nearby healthy tissue, destroying it. Spine cancer can cause symptoms such as weakness, back pain and paralysis and can ultimately be fatal. It is most commonly treated with surgical removal of the tumor followed by radiation therapy, although radiation alone may be used if the risk of nerve damage from surgery is unacceptably high.
Normal, healthy cells have biological mechanisms encoded in their DNA that control their life cycle so they can function as part of a larger whole. Some of these processes regulate how often a cell undergoes mitosis, in which the cell reproduces by making a copy of its genetic code and dividing in two. Others govern programmed cell death, called apoptosis, which causes damaged or defective cells to shut down. Like all cancers, spinal cancer is the result of genetic damage to a cell that disrupts these processes, resulting in unrestricted growth without regard to the health of the organism as a whole.
Spine cancer is usually the result of cancer that started elsewhere in the body and later spread to other locations through the bloodstream or lymphatic system, a process called metastasis. It is also possible for cells in the bones or bone marrow of the spinal cord to become malignant on their own, but this is much less common. Metastatic tumors that originate in the breast, lung, or prostate are common sources of metastatic spinal tumors. Most malignant spinal tumors are extradural, which means they are found outside the membranes surrounding the spinal cord and brain.
Spine cancer can produce a variety of symptoms, mostly due to damage to the nervous system as the disease spreads. In addition to pain in the damaged tissues of the spine itself, the presence of the malignant neoplasm can cause pain elsewhere as its growth puts pressure on the vertebrae and compresses major nerves that connect the central nervous system to other parts of the body. This can also weaken the sufferer by interfering with nerve impulses to the muscles or dull his sense of touch similarly by disrupting sensory signals. If advanced enough, spinal cancer can cause total paralysis in this way. It can also cause incontinence if the tumor growth compresses the nerves that connect to the intestines or bladder.
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