Chordoma

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Survival rates

Cancer survival rates or survival statistics tell you the percentage of people who survive a certain type of cancer for a specific amount of time, such as 5 or 10 years. These numbers can help you and your healthcare team to understand the chance your cancer will be cured, called your prognosis, and decide on a treatment plan.

Cancer survival rates are usually based on research gathered on many people with a specific cancer. Because so few people have chordoma, survival rates may not be very accurate.

Also keep in mind that survival statistics take 5 or 10 years to collect. The most recent survival rates include people who had chordoma treatment more than five or 10 years ago. Those people did not have access to the latest treatments.

Keeping these things in mind, statistics suggest that average survival for chordoma has been about 10 years after diagnosis. This means about half of people diagnosed with chordoma have lived less than 10 years and half have lived longer than 10 years.

With modern, aggressive surgery and newer treatment approaches, chordoma survival rates may be increasing. Your healthcare professional may be able to give you more-specific survival statistics based on your stage of cancer and other factors personal to you.

Factors that affect survival rates

Most of the factors that affect chordoma survival rates are out of your control. Examples include:

  • How much of the tumor can be taken out. This is the biggest predictor of outcomes for chordoma. If the tumor can be totally taken out in one piece, including some of the surrounding healthy tissue, it gives the best chance of a cure.
  • The type of tumor. Conventional and chondroid chordomas have a better prognosis than poorly differentiated and differentiated chordomas.
  • Whether the cancer has returned or spread. If the chordoma recurs after initial treatment or metastasizes it has a worse prognosis.

After your initial recovery from treatment, try to make healthy lifestyle choices to help your overall health. If possible, try to exercise, eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, get good sleep, reduce stress, skip tobacco and limit the amount of alcohol you drink. These can help improve your quality of life.

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StagesDoctors & departments
Oct. 17, 2025

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