Being diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor (SCT) will no doubt raise many questions. These are some of the questions most frequently asked by patients seeking care at our Anchorage spinal cancer treatment center. Patient education is very important to us and we provide many resources to help you learn more about the topics affecting your health.
Spinal cord tumors are treated with either surgery, radiosurgery or conventional radiotherapy, depending upon the type of cancer. Surgery often involves the total removal of the affected bone (laminectomy) in an effort to achieve a radical or gross total resection.
Most SCTs are slow-growing and benign so urgent treatment is usually unnecessary. However, if symptoms such as muscle weakness or pain are getting worse then treatment should be sought soon. Patients will need to find a neurosurgeon who performs surgery related to SCT treatment.
Our experienced Radiation Oncologists will be happy to help place a referral to a Neurosurgeon whom they work closely with and trust.
All surgery has some risk associated with it and this is perhaps especially true for surgery treating spinal cord tumors. However, risk is reduced by choosing neurosurgeons who have performed these procedures many times before.
The pain that patients experience before surgery should be resolved following the procedure. However, there are some important pieces of information to keep in mind:
Our team of doctors is here to help you discover treatment solutions for a range of cancer diagnoses. Schedule an appointment with the CyberKnife Anchorage cancer center today.
Send us your questions and one of our Board Certified Physicians will respond within 24 hours.