[Management of spinal metastases, strategies and surgical indications]

The number of bone metastases increases with prolonged survival of primary tumors of kidney, breast, prostate and other tumors. The spine is the most frequent site of bone metastases. This leads to high number of patients where the decision has to be made what kind of treatment should be the best. Several scores have been developed to solve this problem. The decision has to include the biology of the metastatic disease according to primary tumor and dissemination of the disease, the general condition of the patient, the residual stability of the spine, the neurologic status and most important the quality of life of the patient. Treatment options range from conservative treatment up to en bloc resection of the metastatic lesion. Therefore, the strategy of treatment always has to be decided on an individual base.