Results of radiotherapy in non round cell spinal metastasis.

ABSTRACT

Spinal metastases are commonly encountered by physicians in a variety of clinical fields. There are some controversies in choice of treatment between surgery and radiotherapy. This report is a study of the outcomes of radiotherapy for metastatic nonround cell tumors of the spine. Medical records and films of 31 patients who were treated with radiotherapy at Songklanakarind Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The most common primary tumors were prostate and breast. One patient had spinal metastases from malignant serous cystadenoma of the fallopian tube of which no previous report has been published. This patient had excellent results after radiotherapy. Back and neck pain were the primary symptoms of the patients, while motor or sensory deficits (or both) were found in 58 per cent of the cases. Seven patients had neurological recovery and 18 patients had pain relief after radiotherapy. Cause of compression is the only factor effecting the result from univariate and multivariate analysis. Spinal cord compressed by a tumor had a better recovery than those which were compressed by a bony fragment or intervertebral disc. The authors concluded that radiotherapy remains a good treatment for patient with non round cell spinal metastasis. Cause of spinal cord compression is the only factor predicting the result of treatment.