Analysis of the Infiltrative Features of Chordoma: The Relationship Between Micro-Skip Metastasis and Postoperative Outcomes

Background Chordomas are very rare primary malignant bone tumors that arise commonly from the sacrum (50–60%) and clivus (25–35%). Chordomas have a high rate of recurrence. The authors confirmed a unique histologic infiltration pattern of chordomas that resembles a skip-metastatic lesion in normal tissue around tumor, which they named “micro-skip metastasis.” This study aimed to examine the correlations between the clinicopathologic features of chordomas, including micro-skip metastasis, and the clinical outcomes, including overall survival, local recurrence-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival. Methods The study analyzed histopathologic and clinical data from patients with sacral chordomas who underwent en bloc resection from July 1991 through July 2014. Cases with a minimum follow-up period shorter than 20 months after resection were excluded. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses with log-rank tests were performed for overall survival, metastasis-free survival, and recurrence-free survival. Results The study retrospectively reviewed 40 patients. The mean follow-up period was 98.2 months (range 22–297 months). The local recurrence rate was 41.3%. Micro-skip metastases, observed in 17 patients (42.5%), were associated with a significantly increased risk of local recurrence ( p = 0.023) but not with overall survival or distant metastasis-free survival. Poorer overall survival was associated with histologic vascular invasion ( p = 0.030) and a greater maximum tumor diameter ( p = 0.050). Conclusions The presence of micro-skip metastasis was associated with a higher rate of local recurrence. The maximum tumor diameter and the presence of histologic vascular invasion were associated with poorer overall survival.