

The curvature of the spine, and the unique shape of vertebrae add to the challenges of delivering a tumorocidal dose. Spine tumors grow close to the spinal cord, which cannot safely take high doses of radiation.

There are unique challenges when delivering radiation to the spine. To relieve symptoms like nerve or spinal cord compression that are caused by tumors.In combination with other types of treatment, like surgery or chemotherapy: to either shrink the tumor before, or to stop or slow the growth of any remaining cells, after surgery.As a primary treatment to shrink tumors and destroy cancer cells.Radiation may be used to treat spinal cancers in different ways: You will work with your cancer team to discuss all the options and decide upon the best course of treatment based on your cancer. Go to What is Radiation Therapy for more information on external beam radiation therapy including stereotactic radiosurgery and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy. Depending upon the type of radiation therapy your doctor prescribes, the way that the cancer-fighting treatment is delivered will differ. Your medical team will assess your specific spinal tumor and its sensitivity to radiation based on several different factors, which may include the type of cancer, size and number of tumors and placement of tumor(s). The methods can include low dose radiation, treatment sessions that are spread out over time and newer techniques that allow for more precision-focused treatment. However, doctors try to prevent potential side effects that can happen when healthy tissue and organs are exposed to the radiation by protecting them with different methods. Radiation can also affect nearby healthy cells, but they usually recover at a faster rate than the cancer cells. The radiation works by damaging the DNA of the cancerous cells, which causes those cells to shrink and die. Doctors use radiation to target cancer cells with the goal of stopping tumor growth and destroying the cancer cells.
