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Chordomas and Chondrosarcomas

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Samii's Essentials in Neurosurgery

Abstract

Chordomas and chondrosarcomas are rare primary tumors of the skull base, which are aggressive, are locally invasive, and have a high tendency to recur. Chordomas are believed to arise from remnants of the notochord that remain entrapped by bone. Chondrosarcomas are, on the other hand, thought to originate from fetal cartilage rests. Both tumors are generally discussed together due to overlapping clinical and imaging features. Histological differentiation is nowadays mandatory because current data have demonstrated a better survival for chondrosarcomas. The standard of care is cytoreductive surgery and postoperative radiotherapy. The rationale of management at our department is the utmost surgical resection, notwithstanding with minimal surgical morbidity preserving patients’ clinical status followed by adjuvant carbon ion radiotherapy in cases of residual tumors not scheduled for surgery or recurrent tumors. Palliative resections are planned in patients with recurrent tumors, and such patients may be considered for reirradiation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Eberhard-Karls University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany

    Marcos Tatagiba MD, PhD & Marcus André Acioly MD, PhD

  2. Division of Neurosurgery, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Marcus André Acioly MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Marcos Tatagiba MD, PhD
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  2. Marcus André Acioly MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Marcos Tatagiba MD, PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neurosurgical Department, Neurological Institute of Curitiba (INC), Curitiba, Brazil

    Ricardo Ramina

  2. Neurosurgical Department, Santa Paula Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil

    Paulo Henrique Pires de Aguiar

  3. Dept. of Neurosurgery, Eberhard-Karls University Hospital, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Marcos Tatagiba

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Tatagiba, M., Acioly, M.A. (2014). Chordomas and Chondrosarcomas. In: Ramina, R., de Aguiar, P., Tatagiba, M. (eds) Samii's Essentials in Neurosurgery. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54115-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54115-5_18

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