title: Medulloblastoma development: tumor biology informs treatment decisions.
abstract: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Current treatments including surgery, craniospinal radiation and high-dose chemotherapy have led to improvement in survival. However, the risk for recurrence as well as significant long-term neurocognitive and endocrine sequelae associated with current treatment modalities underscore the urgent need for novel tumor-specific, normal brain-sparing therapies. It has also provided the impetus for research focused on providing a better understanding of medulloblastoma biology. The expectation is that such studies will lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets and eventually to an increase in personalized treatment approaches.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gopalakrishnan
authors.forename: Rong-Hua
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brugmann
authors.forename: Soumen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khatua
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: immunotherapy for pediatric brain tumors; medulloblastoma; molecular classification; mouse models and preclinical studies; targeted agents for clinical studies; tumor epigenomics; tumor genomics