Chris’ Story: A Chordoma Survival Story Made Possible by Mass General Cancer Center
Read how proton therapy saved the life of 19-year-old Chris Kobos after he was diagnosed with a rare chordoma.
Stephan L. Harris
Contact Information
Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care, Yawkey 3B
55 Fruit St
Boston,
MA
02114
Phone: 617-724-8193
To make an appointment, or for inquiries or assistance, contact the patient coordinator at 617-724-8193.
If you are coming from outside the United States please contact the International Patient Center first for assistance in arranging your visit.
Download the Harris Center brochure
Support the Harris Center
You can help support our work researching and treating chordoma with a donation to the Harris Center for Chordoma Care. Your support will enable us to continue our chordoma research and development of new treatment options for patients with chordoma. Make a gift.
The Harris Center brings the Cancer Center’s multidisciplinary expertise to the evaluation, treatment, and support of chordoma patients. An advisory group bringing together specialists throughout Mass General has been established to support this goal and advance the search for a cure.
The Stephan L. Harris Center is a center of excellence at the Massachusetts General Hospital that provides unsurpassed compassionate care while advancing the art and science of evaluating, diagnosing, treating, curing, and supporting the patient with chordoma.
Each patient in our program is evaluated and cared for by a multidisciplinary team of experts who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of chordoma.
These specialists include:
When Stephan Harris was diagnosed with recurrent chordoma, he and his wife traveled from abroad to seek the best possible care. They consulted with specialists at several major U.S. cancer centers, and chose Massachusetts General Hospital and Henry J. Mankin, then chair of Orthopaedics, because of his world-renowned chordoma expertise.
Dr. Mankin subsequently referred him to Frank X. Pedlow, MD, orthopaedic surgeon, and Frederick G. Barker, MD, neurosurgeon. As Mr. Harris's disease unfortunately progressed, Francis J. Hornicek, MD, PhD also became involved in his care.
After Harris’s death, his wife made a major gift in his honor to establish the Stephan L. Harris Center for Chordoma Care at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. “I made this gift to help other people with this disease, and to create a place where they know there will be doctors and nurses, as well as other families, who understand what they are going through,” she said. “My husband wanted to do this too.”
Mrs. Harris had previously given generously to support chordoma research at Mass General. She felt that the place and timing were right to establish this first center in the world with a single focus on chordoma care because the team had already committed themselves to chordoma research.
In addition, Mrs. Harris’s gift established a fund to help families receiving care at the Harris Center with transportation and housing expenses. “When my husband was sick, I was able to travel with him so he would not be alone,” she says. “Stephan would have wanted to help others travel with their families for treatment.” This assistance, notes Anne Fiore, NP, is already helping families and patients, freeing them to focus on treatment and healing.
Our multidisciplinary group of physicians and clinicians specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of chordoma. The team of clinicians at Mass General represents one of the largest chordoma treatment groups in the world.
When a patient is referred to the Harris Center at Mass General, he or she is asked to bring all pertinent records and radiology studies that have been completed with them to their visit.
Patients are seen in our multidisciplinary clinic, where all aspects of care are available in one location. This unique one-stop clinical care unit helps patients get the comprehensive care they need without having to leave the clinic.
Treatment providers coordinated through our team approach include orthopedic oncology surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, neurosurgeons, reconstructive surgeons, radiologists, pathologists and nurse practitioners who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of chordoma.
Patients have access to the most technically sophisticated treatments available for chordoma.
Living with a diagnosis of chordoma affects all aspects of the patient's and family’s life — physical, emotional, social, financial, and spiritual.
The Stephan L. Harris Patient and Family Fund allows chordoma patients to undergo treatment with peace of mind, knowing that their financial burden of chordoma treatment is lessened.
Many patients travel from afar to receive this comprehensive and technically sophisticated treatment. Most of the Harris Center's funds go to reimbursement of the chordoma patient's travel expenses.
The Stephan L. Harris Center for Chordoma Care is dedicated to providing unsurpassed compassionate care for your patient while advancing the art and science of evaluating, diagnosing, treating, curing, and supporting the patient with chordoma.
Providing care for a chordoma patient is complex and time-consuming. We have found that the most effective treatment and care can be given by a team of specialists working together.
A team approach is important in dealing with:
Santiago Lozano-Calderon, MD, PhD
Our team specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of bone & soft tissue tumors, and provides the latest and most innovative treatments matched with compassionate care.
Chordoma is a rare, slow-growing malignant tumor believed to arise from cellular remnants of the notochord.
Download the Harris Center brochure.
View videos from the Harris Center team.
Learn about The Chordoma Foundation.
Learn more about chordoma from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
Learn about the National Cancer Institute.
Learn about the Cancer Care organization.
Join the Chordoma Survivors Facebook Group.
Chordormas and Chondrosarcomas of the Skull Base and Spine [Google Books link].
Mass General has the only proton therapy site in all of New England, with two proton therapy centers.
Our support programs can help patients and their families cope with the challenges of a cancer diagnosis.
This helped lead to new knowledge and breakthrough therapies.
Read how proton therapy saved the life of 19-year-old Chris Kobos after he was diagnosed with a rare chordoma.
Contact us to make an appointment or to learn more about our programs.