Current and Emerging Approaches for Spine Tumor Treatment

Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Dec 10;23(24):15680. doi: 10.3390/ijms232415680.

Abstract

Spine tumors represent a significant social and medical problem, affecting the quality of life of thousands of patients and imposing a burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Encompassing a wide range of diseases, spine tumors require prompt multidisciplinary treatment strategies, being mainly approached through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical interventions, either alone or in various combinations. However, these conventional tactics exhibit a series of drawbacks (e.g., multidrug resistance, tumor recurrence, systemic adverse effects, invasiveness, formation of large bone defects) which limit their application and efficacy. Therefore, recent research focused on finding better treatment alternatives by utilizing modern technologies to overcome the challenges associated with conventional treatments. In this context, the present paper aims to describe the types of spine tumors and the most common current treatment alternatives, further detailing the recent developments in anticancer nanoformulations, personalized implants, and enhanced surgical techniques.

Keywords: custom-made implants; interdisciplinary therapeutic approaches; primary spinal tumors; spinal metastases; spine tumor treatment; tumor-targeted therapies.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
  • Quality of Life
  • Spinal Neoplasms* / therapy
  • Spine

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.