What's the prognosis for osteoblastoma of the neck? My 20-year-old son has just been diagnosed with this kind of cancer.

Osteoblastomas can be very agressive locally meaning they can cause wide spread damage where they occur. They do not tend to metastasize (spread) or move to other parts of the body. Once removed, these tumors come back in one out of 10 (10 per cent) of the affected patients.

Surgeons are looking for ways to remove these tumors so that they don't come back. Preoperative emboliztion may be helpful. An interventional radiologist uses special imaging technology to cut off the blood supply to the tumor before the surgeon removes it.

With complete removal of the tumor, recurrence is much less likely. Neurologic symptoms from tumors pressing on the spinal cord are reversible with this treatment. Pain relief and restoration of motion and function can also occur with proper treatment.