When should you involve a spine oncology surgeon, and how does their approach fundamentally differ from traditional spine surgery? This discussion reveals why modern spine tumor management demands upfront coordination between surgery, interventional radiology, and radiation oncology—before any procedure begins. Discover how preoperative angiography doesn’t just enable embolization but provides surgeons with a roadmap of vital vascular structures, why “debulking” rather than complete resection may be the optimal strategy when combined with radiation, and how seemingly minor technical decisions (like tumor cement placement) can inadvertently eliminate future treatment options. Learn why pushing tumor posteriorly during vertebral augmentation limits radiation dosing near the spinal cord, and how early multidisciplinary planning prevents inadvertently taking critical therapies off the table for your patients.
Contributors:
Dr. Mark Amsbaugh is the Director of Radiation Oncology at Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Ran Lador is an orthopedic spinal surgeon practicing at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Alexa Levey is an interventional radiologist, interventional pain proceduralist, and assistant clinical professor in Houston, Texas.
