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 [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML 5407]