CLASSIFICATION AND SCORING SYSTEMS FOR METASTATIC SPINAL TUMORS

Spinal metastasis occurs in nearly 40% of cancer patients and may cause pain, neurological deficits, and reduced mobility. The main goals of management are pain relief, neurological preservation, and maintenance of quality of life. Identifying the primary tumor is critical, though treatment must proceed even when it remains unknown. Prognosis and treatment decisions are strongly influenced by the pri-mary physician’s or oncologist’s opinion, and while the TNM system provides a common framework, a multidisciplinary approach is often more accurate. To establish a universal language for describing spinal metastases and neurological status, several classification systems have been developed. The classification systems for metastatic spinal tumors are divided into three groups: anatomical, neuro-logical involvement, and life expectancy. In this chapter, these classification systems are presented, emphasizing their strengths as well as their limitations.