Study design: A retrospective study was performed.
Objective: The aim of the study was to illustrate the long-term follow-up results and discuss the possible factors that may affect outcomes of patients with cervical spinal nerve sheath tumors (CSNSTs).
Summary of background data: Nerve sheath tumors are the most common neoplasms in the spine, but minimal information was published in the literature, especially when regarding to prognostic factors due to the benign nature. The objective of our study was to present long-term follow-up results and discuss the possible factors that may affect outcomes of patients with CSNSTs.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with CSNSTs was performed by survival analysis. The local relapse-free survival (LRFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method to identify potential prognostic factors. Factors with P values ≤0.1 were subjected to multivariate analysis by Cox regression analysis. P values ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: A total of 169 patients with CSNSTs were included in the study. All patients received surgical treatment. The mean follow-up period was 72.1 months (median 62.0, range 1-158). Local recurrence was detected in 14 patients after surgery in our center, whereas death occurred in 9 patients with a mean follow-up of 27.2 months (median 24, range 1-84). The statistical analyses suggested that resection mode and pathology type were independent prognostic factors for LRFS and OS. In addition, postoperative recurrence was an adverse independent factor to OS.
Conclusion: Total resection could significantly improve the LRFS and OS for patients with CSNSTs, whereas malignant CSNST was associated with worse prognosis. Moreover, postoperative recurrence was an adverse independent factor to OS.
Level of evidence: 4.