Evaluation of the Treatment Alternatives for Spinal Cord Tumors Using Analytical Evaluation Models

Abstract

Abstract Spinal cord tumors are the abnormal mass of cells that grow, divide and multiply uncontrollably in the spinal cord. Treatment of spinal cord tumors depends on the type, the affected site, the level of complications, and the spread levels. The treatment of spinal cord tumors is not limited to conventional chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery methods but also other techniques, including immunotherapy, targeted therapy, proton therapy, interventional radiology, radiofrequency ablation, and cryoablation. This study compares the treatment alternatives for spinal cord tumors using a multi-criteria decision-making technique called the fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE). These alternatives are evaluated based on certain criteria, which include reliability, use in isolation, cost of treatment, complications during use, side effects, pain relief rate, recovery period, session duration, necrotic tumor rate, and survival rate. The results show that radiofrequency ablation with the highest net outranking flow (0.2604) was the most preferred treatment alternative for the spinal cord tumor. Followed by cryoablation (with 0.1370 net flow), and then, surgery with (-0.0415 net flow). This study indicates that the fuzzy PROMETHEE technique is very effective in producing solutions for health care decision-makers facing problems of uncertainty and can be improved with the availability of more alternatives and criteria based on the specific needs of the patients individually.