Spinal Cord Diseases—Benign Tumors

Also called: Benign cancer, Benign neoplasms, Noncancerous tumors

Tumors are abnormal growths in your body. They can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors aren’t cancer. Malignant ones are. Benign tumors grow only in one place. They cannot spread or invade other parts of your body. Even so, they can be dangerous if they press on vital organs, such as your brain.

Tumors are made up of extra cells. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as your body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes, this process goes wrong. New cells form when your body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form tumor.

Treatment often involves surgery. Benign tumors usually don’t grow back.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

• Biopsy – polyps (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Cherry angioma (Medical Encyclopedia)

Your spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that runs down the middle of your back. It carries signals back and forth between your body and your brain. It is protected by your vertebrae, which are the bone disks that make up your spine. If you have an accident that damages the vertebrae or other parts of the spine, this can also injure the spinal cord. Other spinal cord problems include

• Tumors
• Infections such as meningitis and polio
• Inflammatory diseases
• Autoimmune diseases
• Degenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy

Symptoms vary but might include pain, numbness, loss of sensation and muscle weakness. These symptoms can occur around the spinal cord, and also in other areas such as your arms and legs. Treatments often include medicines and surgery.

• Epidural abscess (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Spinal cord abscess (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Spinal tumor (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Subacute combined degeneration (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Syphilitic myelopathy (Medical Encyclopedia)