Chordoma Foundation

The Chordoma Foundation Biobank is a centralized repository of tumor tissue and blood contributed by chordoma patients to help advance research. The Biobank protects and preserves these samples and makes them available to qualified researchers interested in studying chordoma. A single sample sent to the Biobank may be divided and shared among several different labs to support multiple research studies. Additionally, the Chordoma Foundation Biobank collects clinical information from chordoma patients to enable research into factors that affect treatment and outcomes.

The Chordoma Foundation maintains a collection of validated chordoma cell lines and makes them available to the research community to foster research on chordoma. All cell lines in the repository are extensively characterized to ensure that they are valid models of chordoma. Since 2008, we have distributed cell lines to over 45 labs across the world, enabling numerous research projects that otherwise would not have been possible.

Disease models are research tools used to represent – or "model” – the behavior of human tumors in a laboratory setting, allowing scientists to study living tumor cells without experimenting on people. They are critical for many types of research needed to understand the biology of chordoma and develop new treatments.

There are three main types of models that scientists use to study cancer(http://www.chordomafoundation.org/glossary/#cancer) : cell lines, xenografts, and transgenic models. Each serves an important purpose, and has its own unique benefits.

» A cell line is a family of constantly-dividing, immortal cancer(http://www.chordomafoundation.org/glossary/#cancer)  cells all derived from a single tumor, which are grown in a plastic dish. Cell lines are used for a wide range of different experiments, and are particularly useful for high-throughput drug screening – testing thousands of drugs at a time.

» Xenografts are human tumors that are implanted and grown inside laboratory animals. Like cell lines, they are used to test the response of the tumors to various drugs. The primary advantage of xenografts is that they are grown inside a living organism under conditions that more closely mimic actual human tumors.

» Transgenic models are animals (usually mice) genetically engineered to develop tumors that mimic specific human cancers. Transgenic mouse models are particularly valuable for understanding the underlying biology of human tumors, and, like xenografts, are also useful for drug testing.

In the past, chordoma research was severely limited by lack of these models. We are working to overcome this situation by supporting the development and characterization of new cell lines and animal models.

Living with chordoma is an evolving journey from diagnosis through treatment, recovery, and survivorship. The Chordoma Foundation provides information and resources to help patients, their family, and friends effectively navigate life with chordoma at each step of the way.