title: Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013: a report from the third annual meeting of the International Medulloblastoma Working Group.
abstract: Medulloblastoma is curable in approximately 70% of patients. Over the past decade, progress in improving survival using conventional therapies has stalled, resulting in reduced quality of life due to treatment-related side effects, which are a major concern in survivors. The vast amount of genomic and molecular data generated over the last 5-10 years encourages optimism that improved risk stratification and new molecular targets will improve outcomes. It is now clear that medulloblastoma is not a single-disease entity, but instead consists of at least four distinct molecular subgroups: WNT/Wingless, Sonic Hedgehog, Group 3, and Group 4. The Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 meeting, which convened at Bunker Bay, Australia, brought together 50 leading clinicians and scientists. The 2-day agenda included focused sessions on pathology and molecular stratification, genomics and mouse models, high-throughput drug screening, and clinical trial design. The meeting established a global action plan to translate novel biologic insights and drug targeting into treatment regimens to improve outcomes. A consensus was reached in several key areas, with the most important being that a novel classification scheme for medulloblastoma based on the four molecular subgroups, as well as histopathologic features, should be presented for consideration in the upcoming fifth edition of the World Health Organization's classification of tumours of the central nervous system. Three other notable areas of agreement were as follows: (1) to establish a central repository of annotated mouse models that are readily accessible and freely available to the international research community; (2) to institute common eligibility criteria between the Children's Oncology Group and the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Europe and initiate joint or parallel clinical trials; (3) to share preliminary high-throughput screening data across discovery labs to hasten the development of novel therapeutics. Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 was an effective forum for meaningful discussion, which resulted in enhancing international collaborative clinical and translational research of this rare disease. This template could be applied to other fields to devise global action plans addressing all aspects of a disease, from improved disease classification, treatment stratification, and drug targeting to superior treatment regimens to be assessed in cooperative international clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Oncology/Haematology, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, WA, Australia, nick.gottardo@health.wa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Nicholas G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Gottardo
authors.forename: Jordan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hansford
authors.forename: Jacqueline P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McGlade
authors.forename: Frank
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authors.lastname: Alvaro
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.forename: Simon
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authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bourdeaut
authors.forename: Yoon-Jae
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authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Moira
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authors.lastname: Clay
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.forename: Catherine H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Dallas
authors.forename: Peter
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authors.lastname: Downie
authors.forename: François
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authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ellison
authors.forename: Raelene
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authors.lastname: Endersby
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Timothy
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authors.lastname: Hassall
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Heath
authors.forename: Hilary L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hii
authors.forename: David T W
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Reimar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Junckerstorff
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kellie
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kool
authors.forename: Rishi S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kotecha
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichter
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Laughton
authors.forename: Sharon
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authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Geoff
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authors.lastname: McCowage
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Northcott
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: Roger J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.forename: Stefan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.forename: Torsten
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authors.lastname: Pietsch
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pizer
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pomeroy
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Remke
authors.forename: Giles W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rutkowski
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schoep
authors.forename: Anang A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Shelat
authors.forename: Clinton F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wainwright
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walwyn
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Amar
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authors.lastname: Gajjar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001315:Australia; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D007390:International Agencies; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents