Brain & Spinal Cord Cancers

The majority of people acknowledge and sympathize with Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the presidential candidate, John Edwards. Hers is the story of successful recovery from the primary breast cancer, only to wake up a few years later to find out the cancer had metastasized to her bone and to her liver. We have additionally learned that although the metastasized cancer can be treated, there no longer is any hope of cure.

According to the Mayo Clinic, most back pain stems from normal stresses and strains or from degenerative changes that come with aging. But sometimes the cause may be a spinal tumor — a cancerous or noncancerous growth that develops within or near the spinal cord or in the bones of the spine.

In the United States, the annual incidence of brain cancer generally is 15–20 cases per 100,000 people. Brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in patients younger than age 35.

There are two types of brain tumors: primary brain tumors that originate in the brain and metastatic (secondary) brain tumors that originate from cancer cells that have migrated from other parts of the body.

According to a new report due to appear in the July issue of the journal Cancer, adult survivors of childhood cancer are twice as likely to be jobless as those who don't have that health history.

Mary Shoman, in the Thyroid Disease Guide, reports that "... thyroid cancer patients face a 30% increased risk of second primary cancer, when compared to the general population. It is important to note that these are not metastases -- a spread -- of the initial thyroid cancer -- but instead, appearance of an entirely new cancer."