Vertebral tumor care at Mayo Clinic
Your Mayo Clinic care team
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Bruce Pawelk: I grew up hunting and fishing. I've been a lifelong member of Minnesota, you know? A few years ago I was experiencing lower back pain. I went to my regular doctor, and they decided to do an MRI. Biopsy was performed, and they came in and told me, "You have cancer. You have a very deadly cancer."
Michelle Clarke, M.D., Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic: Bruce was diagnosed with a chordoma, and that is a type of tumor that grows often in the sacrum or the skull base through the top and bottom of the spine. And it is a slowly growing but fairly aggressive tumor. Now the treatment for a chordoma is an aggressive surgery where we take the tumor out in one piece.
Bruce Pawelk: Dr. Clarke is one of the few doctors in the world that could do this surgery. She explained to me with great confidence, I can get this thing. You could see it in her eyes. This gal wasn't going to lose.
Dr. Clarke: Because it is so complicated, very few people are interested in doing it. And Mayo Clinic is one of the places where we are easily able to get these multi-disciplinary teams together and perform such complex surgeries.
Bruce Pawelk: You meet this team, and this team thoroughly, thoroughly goes through every process, and explains it to you, what's going to happen.
Dr. Clarke: One of the major concerns we had with surgery was losing function of the legs, especially his feet, which would have really made it difficult for him to do a lot of the things that he really enjoys doing.
Bruce Pawelk: When I came to after surgery, I was in intensive care. And one of the surgeons came in and pushed on my feet and said, "Can you feel this?" I said, "Yeah." "Can you wiggle your toes?" I wiggled my toes. "Can you push on my hands?" I pushed on her hands and she goes, "Yes!"
Dr. Clarke: Bruce is actually doing very well. And it is amazing when he comes back and talks about all the things he's doing.
Bruce Pawelk: I love to walleye fish. I love just to go snowshoeing in the woods. These are things that I always did, and I still can do them, but now it's with a whole different passion, a whole different meaning.
Dr. Clarke: The goal for all of us is to cure his cancer. And he has worked just as hard as we have to make that happen.
Bruce Pawelk: Through Mayo, I was able to regain my life I had before. I didn't have to go into that wheelchair that I feared so much. It really changes the outlook of your life.
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Vertebral tumor experts at Mayo Clinic work in teams to provide you with excellent care. Care teams include neuroradiologists, neuropathologists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, neurologists with subspecialty expertise in tumor diagnosis and management, rehabilitation specialists, and other professionals who work together to provide exactly the care you need.
Having all this expertise in a single place, focused on you, means that you're not just getting one opinion — your care is discussed among the team, your test results are available quickly, appointments are scheduled in coordination, and the most highly specialized vertebral tumor experts in the world are all working together for you.
What might take months to accomplish elsewhere can typically be done in a matter of days at Mayo Clinic.
Spinal tumor consultation
Advanced diagnosis & treatment
Research in the Mayo Clinic Neuro-Oncology Program includes finding ways to use technology for earlier diagnosis of vertebral tumors. Research also looks at ways to improve surgical techniques to facilitate safe tumor removal, avoid late complications related to tumor removal and identify which tumors are safe to monitor rather than remove.
Depending on the location of the tumor, your surgical team might include thoracic, orthopedic, cardiac, general and plastic surgeons. At Mayo Clinic, surgeons from different specialties often work together. They use the latest technological advances available, including tools such as computer-assisted navigation to precisely direct the surgery.
Radiation therapy for vertebral tumors requires precise planning to avoid hurting the nearby spinal cord. Radiation oncologists use the latest treatment techniques to carefully plan and deliver radiation to the tumor and minimize radiation to nearby structures. Examples include intensity-modulated radiation therapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy.
Mayo Clinic is one of a limited number of healthcare facilities in the United States that offers a Proton Beam Therapy Program. Proton therapy is a type of radiation that uses energy from protons. The proton beams can be shaped so that they deliver the energy to exactly the right spot to hurt the tumor cells.
MRI scan
Expertise and rankings
The top experts at Mayo Clinic have extensive experience caring for people with vertebral tumors. Experts work in teams to provide you with exactly the care you need. These teams include neuroradiologists, neuropathologists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, neurologists with subspecialty expertise in tumor diagnosis and management, rehabilitation specialists, and other professionals.
At Mayo Clinic, you can expect:
- Advanced diagnostic and treatment capabilities. Mayo Clinic offers rapid diagnostic testing and assessments by a team of skilled experts. Neurologists and neurosurgeons work with experienced tissue analysts to identify vertebral tumors.
- Comprehensive cancer center. Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center meets the strict standards for a U.S. National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center. These standards recognize scientific excellence and a multispecialty approach focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
- Experience you can trust. Mayo Clinic doctors trained in spine conditions and spinal surgery have experience in evaluating and treating adults and children with vertebral tumors, including very rare types.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery and for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report. Mayo Clinic Children's Center in Rochester is ranked the No. 1 hospital in Minnesota, and the five-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2023-2024 "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings.
Learn more about Mayo Clinic's neurology and neurosurgery departments' expertise and rankings.
Locations, travel and lodging
Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.
For more information on visiting Mayo Clinic, choose your location below:
Costs and insurance
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.
In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.
Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.
Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.