The results of surgery on primary malignant tumors of the spine in 18 patients treated in our hospital between 1976 and 1993 were reviewed. Curettage was less effective in controlling primary malignant lesions than wide excision, and the condition of the resected margin was closely related to the prognosis of the disease. Some patients in the hematopoietic tumor group receiving combined adjuvant therapy survived for a long time. The role of surgery is important in tumors such as chordoma and chondrosarcoma that have low sensitivity to adjuvant therapy, and it is essential to secure tumor-free resected margins.