Spinal Cartilaginous Tumors

Osteochondroma is the most common benign bone tumor, and its spinal location is well documented, although uncommon. Spinal osteochondroma most commonly arises in the cervical segment and is usually asymptomatic. Spinal location of other types of cartilaginous tumors including chondroma and chondroblastoma is extremely rare, and the available literature is restricted to case reports. Spinal involvement of chondrosarcoma is rare, accounting for less than 15% of all chondrosarcomas. It affects adults in the fifth decade of life or older, predominantly males. The most frequent symptom of spinal chondrosarcoma is pain, whereas neurologic deficit is frequent, indicating a locally advanced disease at presentation. Differentiating spinal chondrosarcoma from benign cartilaginous tumors can be challenging on both imaging and histology. MRI is the imaging modality of choice for local staging. Treatment is based on en bloc tumor removal. Overall prognosis is poor compared to appendicular skeleton chondrosarcoma and varies with tumor subtype, grade, and stage.