Giant cervical chordoma

Chordoma is a locally aggressive tumor that can arise anywhere along the central neural axis, originating from the embryonic notochord remnant. Chordomas tend to be slow growing tumors; they often become symptomatic at relatively later stages, with cervical clinical manifestations related to mass effect including neck pain, shoulder weakness, dysphagia, and dysphonia. In fact, they are often accidentally discovered during investigation of cervical pain or radiculopathy. While rare, chordomas are important to recognize as they can be easily confused for other more common entities with different treatments and prognoses. We present the case of a 78-year-old man who was diagnosed with a giant cervical chordoma.