Medulloblastoma patients whose tumors contain circular extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) are twice as likely to relapse and three times as likely to die within five years of diagnosis, according to new research. Medulloblastoma is an aggressive cancer most often seen in children.  “Medulloblastoma arises in the cerebellum, which is a delicate…

A new method to identify conserved noncoding mutations in the genome that may play a role in driving the development of medulloblastoma tumors has been developed by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden. The study also linked identified noncoding constraint mutations (NCCMs) with changes to how cancer cells respond to…

Research suggests that a type of non-coding RNA may be useful for categorizing and perhaps even treating one of the four types of medulloblastoma. Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children, accounting for about 20% of all pediatric brain cancers. Of the four subtypes, this non-coding RNA…

Researchers have identified a new metabolic vulnerability responsible for driving cancer growth in a type of medulloblastoma, a form of pediatric brain cancer.  Their discovery centers on the role of DHODH, an enzyme routinely used for normal metabolism. The team from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario learned that inhibiting DHODH…

A discovery of unique proteins in a patient’s individual tumor cells has allowed researchers at Children’s National Hospital to generate personalized T cells to target and kill tumors, according to a preclinical study published in Nature Communications. This effort is reportedly the first to create a new workflow for neoantigen identification that…

A collaboration of international researchers has developed a simple antibody-based test that can help diagnose the childhood brain cancer medulloblastoma and also work out which patients are likely to need more intense therapy. Medulloblastoma affects almost two people per million per year. It is ten times more common in children…

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have demonstrated that cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be used to detect measurable residual disease (MRD) in children treated for medulloblastoma. The researchers developed a test to detect MRD, and thus the risk of relapse, earlier than a recurrent tumor…

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, accounting for 20% to 25% of all childhood brain cancers, but with few effective treatments for high-risk medulloblastoma types. But a new way of mapping medulloblastoma genes has led researchers to a novel type of cancer therapy that appears to…

Medulloblastoma uses cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to spread to the lining of the brain or spinal cord. This metastasis is responsible for virtually all deaths from the disease. Now, new research published in Cell Reports led by the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) demonstrates how…

The central nervous system tumor medulloblastoma—which affects primarily children—is a fast growing cancer that spreads to other parts of the brain and spinal cord. Surgery is the most common first step in treating medulloblastoma, while other treatments include radiation therapy and chemotherapy. If the disease does not spread, five-year survival…

Researchers at Newcastle University in the U.K. say experts can identify the time, nature, and outcome of medulloblastoma relapse from the biology of the disease at diagnosis and the initial therapy received, a finding that may lead to more tailored treatment for children with the disease. Their study “Time, pattern,…

Medulloblastoma is the most common brain cancer in children. Presenting with one of four subtypes according to severity, treatment almost always involves drug therapy after surgery. But as many as one-third of children with medulloblastoma do not survive despite treatment or suffer long-term side effects. To improve these odds and…

Tumor DNA from medulloblastoma is present in large quantities in the cerebrospinal fluid and can be used to accurately diagnose and monitor cancer progression, show Spanish study findings. “By evidencing the promise of cerebrospinal fluid as liquid biopsy for the personalized treatment of this extremely aggressive disease, our findings could…

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a method to activivarte the Wnt pathway in non-Wnt subtypes of medulloblastoma making these aggressive forms of the disease more susceptible to treatment. “Our work shows the Wnt pathway, which has historically been considered cancer-promoting, may function as a tumor suppressor in certain contexts,”…

Combining immunotherapy with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) eradicated a deadly type of pediatric brain tumor in mice, according to new research out of Sanford Burnham Prebys. The study “Tumor necrosis factor overcomes immune evasion in p53-mutant medulloblastoma”, published in Nature Neuroscience, is expected to lead to a clinical trial to test…