Epidemiology
Spinal cord compression due to metastases is one of the most common and serious skeletal-related events for cancer patients. Estimates suggest that between 5 and 10 in every 200 patients with terminal cancer will have MSCC due to epidural metastases during their final 2 years of life.[7]
Extradural (epidural) lesions are the most common type of tumour affecting the spinal cord, accounting for 60% of all spine tumours. Intradural tumours are less common, with extramedullary lesions accounting for 30%, and intramedullary lesions accounting for 10% of all spine tumours.[8]
The overall incidence and prevalence of MSCC are unclear because it is not recorded in a systematic way in most countries. Studies in Scotland and Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s suggested that incidence may be up to 80 cases per million people per year.[9][10] MSCC incidence is likely to have increased since then, and is expected to rise further as cancer survival times continue to increase, since it is related to duration of disease.[7]
MSCC is the presenting symptom of cancer for a significant proportion of patients: one UK study reported that 21% of patients presenting with MSCC were not known previously to have cancer.[11]
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