Bone Cancer and Spinal Cord Compression: What is the Connection?

Bone cancer is a life altering health complication that can lead to a life of significant pain and secondary health complication development. If you've been diagnosed with bone cancer, and if the cancer is affected your spinal cord, you may suffer from excruciating pain associated with a spinal cord compression. It is important for patients with bone cancer to seek out medical treatment for not only the cancer but also for the secondary health issues that arise.

Spinal cord compression is a type of health condition that affects many back pain sufferers including those that do not have bone cancer. If you have spinal cord compression in response to a cancer of your backbone, the treatment will typically be the same, however you will need to have your neurosurgeon work closely with your oncologist.

Without proper treatment of a spinal cord compression, while suffering from a bone cancer complication, you may find that your life becomes quickly, and adversely, deteriorated from lack of mobility. Because the spinal cord contains the nerves that tell your lower extremities how to move and where to move, any compression against those nerves will cause a loss of mobility and function. So, in addition to suffering from bone cancer, you may also find that your life is altered by lack of function.

When seeking out medical treatment related to your spinal compression, it is important to ask your doctor about the surgical options you can consider as a bone cancer patient. In some cases, your treatment may be limited as the bone cancer may adversely impact the integrity of your spine but, ultimately, this will be a decision made between your oncologist and your neurosurgeon. In the interim, aggressive physical therapy, spinal blocks, and the use of pain medications will be necessary.

Bone cancer can lead to a variety of health complications in the person who suffers from it and may lead to the development of secondary health risks. If you are suffering from complications involving back pain and nerve compression, it is important to determine if you have an issue with spinal cord compression and what, if any, aggressive surgical options may be made available to you. In the long term, your bone cancer may only further complicate your back health and, for this reason, surgery should be considered.

Sources: Bone Metastasis, by American Cancer Society