A spinal tumor is an abnormal growth that results from any tissue that makes up the spinal cord. Spinal cord tumors are benign or malignant growths in or near the spinal cord. They are less common in children than brain tumors and occur primarily in children 10 to 16 years old. Spinal cord tumors may arise from the spinal cord region (primary) or spread to the cord from other organs (metastatic). As you can see, our article is about spinal tumors in children.