Strategy for the treatment of patients with spinal neoplasms

Progress in oncological therapy within the last decade has enhanced the survival time of patients suffering from tumorous osteolyses of the spine. While the necessity of surgical intervention is often settled by acute clinical symptoms, the extent of surgery is certainly co-determined by the patient's expectations and the time of survival to be expected. We therefore developed a specific tumor algorithm for operations on the spine with special emphasis on prognosis and the attainable quality of life. The results of 154 patients with tumorous osteolyses of the thoracic and lumbar spine, who were treated according to our algorithm, underline the unequivocal advantages of initially posterior procedures.