One such illness that may be fatal is a spinal tumor. A spinal tumor is an abnormal development of cells that originate from any part of the spine’s tissue. Spinal tumors come in a variety of forms, but not all of them are harmful. Some are benign and pose no harm, while others are cancerous and may pose a hazard to life in specific circumstances. The most common kind of cancers that start in the spinal cord are primary and metastatic spinal tumors.