Chordomas are rare malignant bone tumors arising in the axial skeleton, with an incidence of 0.3–0.88 per million inhabitants. We studied the annual incidence rate and centralization of treatment for chordoma in the Netherlands.

We retrieved pathology excerpts from the PALGA nationwide Dutch Pathology Registry between 1991 and 2019 for patients with a chordoma to calculate incidence rates. From pathology reports we extracted patient age at diagnosis, sex, year of diagnosis, localization of primary tumor, histologic chordoma subtype (conventional including chondroid, poorly differentiated or dedifferentiated), center of diagnosis (bone tumor referral center (BTC) or other hospital), and partial identification of the BTCs.

A total of 420 individual chordoma patients were identified in the given time period. The incidence of chordoma increased from 0.593 per million inhabitants between 1991–1995 to 1.111 from 2015–2019 (P = 0.001). Median age at diagnosis was 63 years (range 1–95), 252 patients (60%) were male. The proportion of samples analyzed in a BTC either primarily or secondary, as a consultation, revision or referral, increased significantly from 29.3% to 84.4% (P < 0.001). Most primary and secondary samples were analyzed at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC, 54.4% and 57% respectively).

This study shows an increase in the standardized incidence of pathology proven chordoma in the Netherlands. We observed an increase in samples being analysed in the specialized BTCs as well, which is in line with current guidelines and will hopefully lead to more accurate diagnoses and optimal treatment plans for chordoma patients in specialized treatment centers.