LAUSR

BACKGROUND Most 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. METHODS A literature review of PubMed from 1960 to 2016 was undertaken for the publications having demographic, clinical, histological, and outcome data. RESULTS A 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). CONCLUSION Lung 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.