Finding better treatments for chordoma

Chordoma is a rare but devastating cancer that accounts for 20% of primary spine and skull base tumours. Today, chordoma’s 10-year survival rate is only about 40%.

Current treatment for chordoma involves surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by possible radiation to treat remaining cancer cells. There are no other approved treatment options. In addition, there is no method available to predict patient outcomes and no reliable way to guide surgery or radiation to deliver the maximum impact for the patient. Together, this means the experience for someone with chordoma is unpredictable. There is an unmet need to continue research on these rare and devastating cancers.

Our group has identified a biological signature for chordomas that can help predict patient outcomes. We aim to build on this discovery to identify chordoma subtypes that can guide treatment. We will analyze many thousands of proteins in the tumour tissue to identify proteins on the cell-surface that can be targeted for therapy. We also use DNA analysis to build models to guide decision making. This research discovery will lead to a first-ever personalized approach to surgery and radiation for people diagnosed with chordoma.