Hand metastasis from a sacral chordoma.

Chordomas are rare, low grade, malignant tumours derived from the ectopic remnants of the notochord that line the axial skeleton. They are characterised by their slow growth, long disease course and propensity for local relapse. Furthermore, up to 40% of non-cranial chordomas metastasise. We describe the first reported case of a hand metastasis arising from a conventional sacral chordoma after carbon ion radiotherapy. The common occurrence of distant metastasis with chordomas makes it important to perform a systemic examination, in part because their resection might improve patient prognosis.