This technique, which integrates radiopharmaceuticals to identify the tumor in real-time during surgery, is being systematically applied for the first time in Europe in spinal surgery, improving the delineation of tumor margins.

Radiopharmaceuticals allow surgeons to locate the tumor and its exact surface during removal. These techniques combine nuclear medicine with advanced navigation technology and have already proven useful in other cancer types such as breast, gynecological, or head and neck cancers.

To date, nine cases have been treated at Doctor Peset, including chordomas, Ewing's sarcomas, osteosarcomas, and neuroendocrine tumors, many of them recurrent. Dr. Antonio Martín, head of the Spine Unit section, highlights the challenge of spinal surgery due to its proximity to neurological structures and the difficulty in defining safe margins.

The information from radiopharmaceuticals and intraoperative navigation ensures "more precise" surgery, according to Dr. Martín. Since May 2019, the hospital has had a reference unit for complex spinal pathology and spinal tumors, serving patients from across the Valencian Community and Spain.

Dr. John Orozco, a Nuclear Medicine specialist, notes that this new form of vertebral oncological surgery is fully personalized and requires collaboration from various specialties. Intraoperative tumor localization has been effective in one hundred percent of applied cases, achieving complete resection in 75 percent of patients.

The results of this experience will be presented at the 40th National Congress of the Spanish Society of Spine Surgery (GEER) in Seville.