Chordomas are slow-growing, malignant tumors of bone that are thought to be derived from the primitive notochord and occur almost exclusively in the axial skeleton. The so-called extra-axial chordoma has been shown to demonstrate identical features to the classic chordoma, except that it is found outside the axial skeleton. Only six cases of extra-axial chordoma have been reported in the literature to date. In this report, we present another case of extra-axial chordoma for the first time originating from the lung parenchyma. A 79-year-old man presented a 7.3-cm-sized cavitary lung mass. Pathologic examination, including immunohistochemical studies, revealed that the mass was a chordoma. We report an extra-axial chordoma for the first time presenting as a lung mass.

Keywords:
Chordoma, Extra-axial site, Lung
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© 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel
2008
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