Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.0
4.5
Journals
Cancers
Special Issues
Advances in the Surgical Treatment of Spinal Tumors
share announcement

Advances in the Surgical Treatment of Spinal Tumors

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 457

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Daniel Lubelski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departments of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Interests: spinal tumor surgery; advanced radiation techniques; minimally invasive spine surgery; spinal metastases; histology-specific treatments; machine learning; deep learning; prognostic modeling; surgical outcomes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Spinal tumors pose significant challenges due to their complex nature and profound impact on patient quality of life as well as survival. This Special Issue focuses on advancing the management of spinal tumors through innovative surgical techniques, cutting-edge radiation therapies, and the integration of artificial intelligence for personalized treatment planning. Topics of interest include minimally invasive and reconstructive spine surgery, novel radiation modalities, the management of spinal metastases, and histology-specific approaches. Contributions addressing multidisciplinary care and quality-of-life outcomes are also encouraged. Original research, databases, or multi-institutional cohorts, in addition to reviews, are welcome, aiming to provide clinically relevant insights that drive advancements in spinal tumor treatment and patient care.

Dr. Daniel Lubelski
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • spinal tumors
  • spinal metastases
  • minimally invasive spine surgery
  • radiosurgery
  • histology-specific treatment
  • prognostic modeling
  • machine learning
  • deep learning
  • spinal reconstruction
  • quality of life

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 9960 KiB  
Article
Histology-Specific Treatment Strategies and Survival Prediction in Lung Cancer Patients with Spinal Metastases: A Nationwide Analysis
by Abdul Karim Ghaith, Xinlan Yang, Taha Khalilullah, Xihang Wang, Melanie Alfonzo Horowitz, Jawad Khalifeh, A. Karim Ahmed, Tej Azad, Joshua Weinberg, Abdel-Hameed Al-Mistarehi, Chase Foster, Meghana Bhimreddy, Arjun K. Menta, Kristin J. Redmond, Nicholas Theodore and Daniel Lubelski
Cancers 2025, 17(8), 1374; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17081374 - 21 Apr 2025
Viewed by 315
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Spinal metastases are a common and severe complication of lung cancer, particularly in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and are associated with poor survival. Despite advancements in treatment, optimal management strategies remain unclear, with significant differences between non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Spinal metastases are a common and severe complication of lung cancer, particularly in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and are associated with poor survival. Despite advancements in treatment, optimal management strategies remain unclear, with significant differences between non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and SCLC. This study evaluates treatment patterns, survival outcomes, and prognostic factors in lung cancer patients with spinal metastases, integrating deep learning survival prediction models. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to identify NSCLC and SCLC patients diagnosed with spinal metastases. Demographics and treatment modalities were analyzed and adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities. Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models assessed overall survival (OS). Five advanced survival prediction models estimated 1-year and 10-year mortality, with feature importance determined via permutation analysis. Results: Among 428,919 lung cancer patients, 5.1% developed spinal metastases, with a significantly higher incidence in SCLC (13.6%) than in NSCLC (5.1%). SCLC patients had poorer OS. Radiation therapy alone was the predominant treatment, and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) predicted better short- and long-term survival compared to other radiation techniques. High-dose radiation (71–150 Gy BED) improved OS in NSCLC, while reirradiation benefited NSCLC but had a limited impact in SCLC. SurvTrace demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy for 1-year and 10-year mortality, identifying age, radiation dose, reirradiation, and race as key prognostic factors. Conclusions: The management of spinal metastases requires a histology-specific approach. Radiation remains the primary treatment, with SBRT predicting better short- and long-term survival. High-dose radiation and reirradiation should be considered for NSCLC, while the benefits are limited in SCLC. These findings support histology-specific treatment strategies to improve survival of patients with metastatic lung cancer to the spine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Surgical Treatment of Spinal Tumors)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop