Abstract
BackgroundMost metastatic spinal cord lesions are located either in the intradural, extramedullary, or in the epidural compartments. Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis (ISCM) is a rare central nervous system spread of cancer. The aim of this report was to evaluate ISCM in the published literature. MethodsA literature review of PubMed from 1960 to 2016 was undertaken for the publications having demographic, clinical, histological, and outcome data. ResultsA total of 59 relevant papers were identified, showing 128 cases of intramedullary metastasis from lung cancer. The incidence of lung cancer as the primary malignancy with intramedullary metastasis was 56%. The median time from diagnosis of primary to intramedullary metastasis was 6months. Survival improved with multimodality therapy compared to monotherapy (4monthsvs. 6.3months) (hazard ratio=0.501; 95% confidence interval, 0.293–0.857). ConclusionLung cancer is the predominant cause of intramedullary involvement of the spinal cord. Overall prognosis is poor, although a multimodality approach was associated with improved survival.
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