Table 1.

Chordoma samples and their clinical, pathological and biochemical characterization.

Human chordoma characteristics and medical treatments				IHC analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material			Biochemical analysis of frozen material before mouse implantation
Patient No.	Site	Primary/recurrence	Medical treatment	Brach	PDGFRB	EGFR	Brach	pPDGFRB pRTK assay results	pPDGFRB IP/WB results	pEGFR pRTK assay results
1	S	P	Imatinib and imatinib plus sirolimus	+	+	+	+	−/+	−/+	+
2	S	R	Untreated	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
3	S	R	Imatinib	+	+	+	+	−	+	+
4	S	P	Untreated	+	+	+	+	−	+	+
5	S	P	Untreated	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
6	S	P	Untreated	+	NE	NE	+	+	+	+
7	S	P	Untreated	+	NE	NE	+	−	NA	+
8	S	P	Untreated	+	−	+	+	−	NA	+

RTK expression/activation was evaluated by means of immunohistochemistry (IHC) phospo RTK array (pRTK assay) and immunoprecipitation/Western blot (IP/WB). All of the cases showed EGFR activation (pRTK array). This study was approved by the institutional review board (Independent Ethics Committee) of Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori – Milan, and all patients gave their written informed consent.

Abbreviations: Brach, brachyury; IHC, immunohistochemistry; NA, not analyzed; NE, not evaluable; P, primary; R, recurrence; S, sacrum; −, negative; +, positive