Medulloblastoma: tumorigenesis, current clinical paradigm, and efforts to improve risk stratification

@article{Polkinghorn2007MedulloblastomaTC,
  title={Medulloblastoma: tumorigenesis, current clinical paradigm, and efforts to improve risk stratification},
  author={William R. Polkinghorn and Nancy J. Tarbell},
  journal={Nature Clinical Practice Oncology},
  year={2007},
  volume={4},
  pages={295-304}
}
Medulloblastoma is the most common brain malignancy in children and tremendous advances have recently been made in understanding the pathogenesis of this tumor. The Hedgehog and Wingless signaling pathways are implicated in medulloblastoma development, and both pathways were discovered as a result of analyses of genetic syndromes associated with the tumor. Over the past 80 years, considerable progress has been made in the treatment of what was once a fatal disease. The first survival reports… 
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187 Citations

Medulloblastoma: From Molecular Pathology to Therapy

TLDR
Better understanding of the growth control mechanisms involved in the development and progression of medulloblastoma will allow a better classification, leading to the improvement of the existing therapies, as well as to the development of new therapeutic approaches.

Where are we with Targeted Therapies for Medulloblastoma

TLDR
Five year overall survival rates with high risk medulloblastoma are up to 65% and can be greater than 80% in patients in those with average risk disease using current standard-of-care multimodal therapy that includes surgery, craniospinal radiation and chemotherapy.

Clinical , Histopathologic , Radiographic and Molecular Classification of Medulloblastoma

TLDR
The utility and limitations of the clinical, histopathological, radiographic, and molecular characteristics of medulloblastoma that are used to classify patients and guide therapeutic decisions are summarized.

Clinical, Histopathologic, Radiographic and Molecular Classification of

TLDR
The clinical, histopathologic, radiographic, and molecular characteristics of both pediatric and adult medulloblastoma are summarized to facilitate modification of therapy with reduced toxicity in some cases, while improving clinical outcome with targeted therapies in others.

Pediatric medulloblastoma in the molecular era: what are the surgical implications?

TLDR
Using the four main molecular MB subgroups, a restratification into clinicogenomic risk categories quantified an unacceptable survival for the high-risk group, urging researchers to focus their efforts towards acquiring a greater biological understanding of these children.

Antiangiogenic Strategies in Medulloblastoma: Reality or Mystery

TLDR
The state-of-the-art concerning antiangiogenic targets for medulloblastoma treatment is reviewed, and the complexity of the vascular system that intrinsically limits the efficacy of current strategies is discussed.

Molecular biology of medulloblastoma: bridging the gap between research and practice

TLDR
A novel four-antibody approach to subgroup medulloblastoma using immunohistochemistry on archival specimens as proposed by Northcott et al appears extremely promising as it can be applied in any basic neuropathology laboratory across the globe.

The rationale for targeted therapies in medulloblastoma.

TLDR
Current preclinical and clinical data, as well as data from clinical trials of targeted therapies that are either ongoing or in development for medulloblastoma are discussed.

Prognostic and predictive markers in glioma and other neuroepithelial tumors.

Novel amplifications in pediatric medulloblastoma identified by genome-wide copy number profiling

TLDR
The most frequently observed alteration was the combination of 17p loss and 17q gain, which was detected in both high- and standard-risk patients and confirmed its genetic heterogeneity in Medulloblastoma.
...

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