Chordomas are common musculoskeletal tumors of the ferret which most
long-time ferret owners are very familiar with. Most of these spinal
tumors appear at the end of the tail, and surgical excision is curative
at this site. For those who are unfamiliar with this tumor, there is a
brief writeup and images at my website at
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/chordoma.html

What many people do not know is that chordomas are seen in people as
well. They are much more of a problem in humans as they are often
slow-growing, highly invasive vertebral masses that do not respond
especially well to chemotherapy following surgery. Even more
tragically, they often appear in sites which are very difficult to
perform surgery on, such as the base of the skull. A physician
acquaintance of mine, Dr. Simone Summer M.D. is forming a consortium to
investigate these tumors in humans, and quickly realized that many of
the same genetic markers and potential therapeutic strategies may be
applied to ferret chordomas, with possible benefits for both species.

As many ferrets still have routine surgery for these tumors (which are
often not submitted for pathology), Dr. Summer is very interested in
receiving these specimens to assist with her research. If you have a
ferret with a chordoma, and would like to donate the tissue to this
important cause, please contact her at:

Simone Sommer, MD, MPH
336-324-6167
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[Posted in FML 5407]