SURGICAL NEUROLOGY, cilt.68, sa.4, ss.425-430, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
Background: Chordomas are rare, slow growing, infiltrative tumors thought to arise from vestigial or ectopic notochord. Chordoma can occur along the axial skeleton, predominantly in the sphenooccipital, vertebral, and sacrococcygeal regions. Although most chordomas are sporadic, familial cases have also been reported. The most common molecular cytogenetic abnormalities in these tumors are monosomy of chromosome I and gain of chromosome 7. In addition, a variety of other chromosomal changes, which are associated with losses and gains of different chromosomes, have also been described in chordomas, such as 1q, 2p, 3p, 5q, 9p, 10, l2q, 13q, 17, and 20q.