Sacral chordoma in an adult showing an aggressive clinical course: A case report

The current report presents a case of a 78-year-old male with sacral chordoma, showing an aggressive clinical course. The patient underwent sacral resection, however, nine months later, multiple metastases were detected by magnetic resonance imaging. The metastases progressed rapidly and 15 months following surgery the patient succumbed to respiratory dysfunction. An autopsy revealed multiple metastases of the lung, liver, heart, kidneys and vertebrae. Pathologically, the tumors did not show proliferation of anaplastic cells or dedifferentiation; however, the metastatic tumor cells were smaller than the primary tumor cells. The Ki-67 labeling indices were <5% in all of the patient's tumors, therefore, the capacity for cellular proliferation of the tumors was considered to be low. Chordoma in adults are generally slow-growing tumors and are associated with a relatively prolonged course and frequent local recurrences. Therefore, it must be recognized that chordoma may grow rapidly and show an aggressive clinical course, even when the Ki-67 labeling index is low.