Spinal Cord Lesions in Patients with Cancer

Patients with cancer are prone to unique disease processes different from those that occur in the general population. Spinal cord lesions in patients with cancer may reflect neoplastic, infectious, ischemic, hemorrhagic, metabolic, and toxic etiologies. As treatments become more efficient in different cancers, subsequent early and late cancer and treatment complications may also become more frequent. The purpose of this article is to review common spinal cord lesions in patients with cancer with an emphasis on imaging and clinical clues that can narrow the differential diagnosis.

Learning Objective: List 5 imaging findings that differentiate neoplastic and non-neoplastic sources of spinal pathology in patients with known malignancies.