A Clinical Analysis of Metastatic Spine Tumors: Analysis of Prognostic Factors and Scoring System for Prognostic Evaluation

ABSTRACT

The purpose of treatment for metastatic spine tumor is to improve the quality of life. So, it is very important to carefully select the surgical candidates to prevent unnecessary surgery-related morbidity and mortality. For this purpose, the authors have surveyed 200 cases of spinal metastasis treated by radiotherapy alone or radiotherapy plus surgery to determine prognostic factors. In this study, we attempted to examine retrospectively the four factors, e.g.,primary tumor, pretreatment neurologic status, general condition and degree of cancer extension, affecting the prognosis of metastatic spine tumors. Each factor was ranked from 1 to 3 points according to the severity and the total score for each patient was obtained by adding the these points. As a result, it was found that the total score was highly correlated to the survival period. While the patients with a total score of 6 or lower survived 100 days or less, those of 10 or higher survived 300 days or more on average. Therefore, authors believe this scoring system would be helpful to the determine treatment modalities and the selection of the most suitable operative procedures.