Cutaneous metastasis of CNS chordoma

A rare case of cutaneous skin metastasis from an intracranial chordoma is presented. A large nodule developed in the left thigh of a 22-year-old woman who had been previously diagnosed to have a chordoma at the base of her skull. Sections from the biopsied specimens of the nodule showed proliferations of physaliphorous cells and stellate cells in cords and in nests in a myxoid stroma. Immunohistochemically, neoplastic cells were stained positively with antibodies to S-100 protein and cytokeratin. The results of the histopathological and immunohistochemical studies of the nodule were interpreted as pointing to a diagnosis of metastatic chordoma based on their similarity to the results of studies of the primary neoplasm in the cranial region. Based on the number of cases of skin metastasis from chordoma reported in the literature, skin should be kept in mind as one of the target organs, although such metastases are still rare.