Solitary vertebral metastasis.

As survival time increases for many cancers, it is likely that the incidence and prevalence of spinal metastases will increase also. Given that most patients first present with solitary lesions in the spine, proper initial diagnosis and management are of paramount importance in minimizing pain, improving neurologic function, and potentially lengthening survival. Although pain control and standard radiation are still used, spinal stereotactic radiosurgery, vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty, and spinal cord decompression and fusion are now consistently used in aggressive management and offer exciting preliminary results.