The article presents review of literature for spinal tumors most common in practice. Intraoperative tumor description, histological verification and tactics are presented. Totality of resection of lesion, and methods of instrumentation in case of vertebral column instability are discussed. In spite of lot of the literature, adequate decision is very hard in case of spinal cord and vertebral tumor. Severity of disease is burdened with concomitant somatic symptomatology, neglect of disease, dissemination of the process, vertebral metastases in case of unoperated primary tumor. According to histology, dissemination and vertebral lesion, each definite case should be examined individually and in complex. Only the surgical method is not enough for the decision of spinal tumor problem.

Spinal tumor surgery is one of the hardest neurosurgical branch, which requires microsurgical equipment and intraoperative monitoring. Spinal tumor diagnostics can be very difficult because of clinical signs same for other disease in case of acute clinical manifestation. Severity of disease is burdened with concomitant somatic symptomatology. According to histology, dissemination and vertebral lesion, each definite case should be examined individually and in complex. Only the surgical method is not enough for the decision of spinal tumor problem. It is obvious, than problem of pathogenesis, diagnostics and operative treatment of spinal cord tumors is task of current importance at present stage of neurological and neurosurgical development. This article presents surgery results for patients treated at Russian Neurosurgical Institute named after prof. A.L.Polenov, neurooncology department in period of time 1999—2007.