page_title: Chordoma
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Chordoma / Diagnosis / Classification
caption_attribution_description: English: High magnification micrograph of a chordoma. HPS stain. Related images Low mag. Intermed. mag. High mag. Very high mag.
context_page_description: Chordoma is a rare slow-growing neoplasm thought to arise from cellular remnants of the notochord. The evidence for this is the location of the tumors, the similar immunohistochemical staining patterns, and the demonstration that notochordal cells are preferentially left behind in the clivus and sacrococcygeal regions when the remainder of the notochord regresses during fetal life.
  In layman's terms, chordoma is a type of spinal cancer.
context_section_description: There are three histological variants of chordoma: classical (or "conventional"), chondroid and dedifferentiated.
  The histological appearance of classical chordoma is of a lobulated tumor composed of groups of cells separated by fibrous septa. The cells have small round nuclei and abundant vacuolated cytoplasm, sometimes described as physaliferous (having bubbles or vacuoles).
  Chondroid chordomas histologically show features of both chordoma and chondrosarcoma.
caption: Micrograph showing a chordoma. HPS stain.
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