Paralysis Resource Guide - (Page 48) CONDITIONS SPINAL TUMORS Brain and spinal cord tumors feature abnormal tissue growth inside the skull or the bony spinal column. Tumors are classed as benign (non-cancerous) if the cells that make up the growth are similar to normal cells, grow slowly, and are confined to one location. Tumors are malignant (cancerous) when the cells are different from normal cells, grow quickly, and can spread easily to other locations. Because the central nervous system (CNS) is housed within rigid, bony quarters (the skull and spinal column), any abnormal growth can place pressure on sensitive nerve tissues and impair function. While malignant cells elsewhere in the body can easily seed tumors inside the brain and spinal cord, malignant CNS tumors rarely spread out to other body parts. Most spinal cord cancers are metastatic, meaning that they arise from a wide variety of primary cancers. These include lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, gynecologic, gastrointestinal, thyroid, melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. When new tumors begin within the brain or spinal cord, they are called primary tumors. Primary CNS tumors rarely grow from neurons—nerve cells that perform the nervous system’s important functions—because once neurons are mature they no longer divide and multiply. Instead, most tumors are caused by out-of-control growth among cells that surround and support neurons. Primary CNS tumors—such as gliomas and meningiomas—are named by the types of cells comprising them, their location or both. The cause of most primary brain and spinal cord tumors remains a mystery. Scientists don’t know exactly why and how cells in the nervous system or elsewhere in the body lose their normal identity and grow uncontrollably. Some of the possible causes under investigation include viruses, defective genes and chemicals. Brain and spinal cord tumors are not contagious or, at this time, preventable. Spinal cord tumors are less common than brain tumors. About 10,000 Americans develop primary or metastatic spinal cord tumors each year. Although spinal cord tumors affect people of all ages, they are most common in young and middle-aged adults. Brain tumors affect about 40,000 Americans each year. About 48
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