Improved Treatment Raises Medulloblastoma Survival Rate

A team of investigators led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has announced that improvements in the treatment of the childhood brain cancer medulloblastoma have// significantly increased the rate of survival of children with this disease. The treatment increased the overall five-year ...

Survival rates improve with better treatment options for medulloblastoma

Study led by St. Jude finds that by tailoring the intensity of radiation to individual patients and cutting short the length of intensive chemotherapy improves outcome for those// suffering medulloblastoma. A team of investigators led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has announced th...

AIDS Drug Slows Spread of Deadly Childhood Brain Cancer

...ial for certain tumor survival and growth, such as medulloblastoma -- a highly malignant cancer of the central nervou..., treatment with ABC improved the survival rate of medulloblastoma patients, although it did not cure them. Howev...ute has more about treatment trials for childhood medulloblastoma . -- Kevin McKeever ...

Estrogen found to increase growth of the most common childhood brain tumor

...umor growth and progression. Estrogen receptors are also the most important drug targets for the treatment of breast cancer. "Current therapies for medulloblastoma involve cranial surgery, chemotherapy and radiation," says Scott Belcher, PhD, principal investigator of the study. "This discovery suggests that we m...

Researchers Hunt Normal Cells That Give Rise to Cancer

...a, the Duke researchers and colleagues in Australia created mouse models of medulloblastoma by turning off the patched gene, an important regulator of cell growth in t...hin the cerebellum. The findings provide the first definitive proof that medulloblastoma can be triggered in GNPs, the researchers said. "Simply mutating a gene ...

Key to treating cancer may be finding its original cell

...f Queensland in Australia, created mouse models of medulloblastoma by turning off the patched gene, a key regulator o... stem cells that gave rise to GNPs went on to form medulloblastoma tumors. According to Wechsler-Reya, these studies provide the first definitive proof that medulloblastoma can be triggered in a granule neuron precursor or ...

Childhood brain tumor traced to normal stem cells gone bad

...STON--An aggressive childhood brain tumor known as medulloblastoma originates in normal brain "stem" cells that turn ...ngs hint at potential new treatment approaches for medulloblastoma by targeting the origins of the tumors, and furthe...lia. This was a surprise: it had been thought that medulloblastoma arose purely from neuronal ("thinking") cells and ...

Certain anti-cancer agents could be harmful to patients with heart disease

...ed against several of these cancers, including basal cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer), prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and medulloblastoma (a type of brain tumor). These trials are still in the early stage. The current study was the first demonstration that hedgehog signaling is essent...

St. Jude finds signaling system that halts the growth of a childhood brain cancer

...signated BMP2, BMP4 and BMP7, halted the growth of medulloblastoma tumors and induced the malignant cells to develop ...velopment. Roussel is the papers senior author. medulloblastoma occurs in the cerebellum, which is located in the ...fer experiments in mice to test BMPs as a possible medulloblastoma treatment. Using a genetically altered virus, scie...

Potential Brain Cancer Drug for Children May Damage Bones

...to be an unusually strong candidate for trials in children with the type of medulloblastoma having gene mutations on the Hh pathway--about a third of cases. Howeve...ve already completed their growth, or in the admittedly small proportion of medulloblastoma patients who are adults. "Signal transduction inhibitors such as this d...

Medulloblastoma in Medical Technology

St. Jude Finds Signaling System That Halts the Growth of a Childhood Brain Cancer

...proteins BMP2, BMP4 and BMP7 inhibit the growth of medulloblastoma tumors, while inducing malignant cells to develop ...signated BMP2, BMP4 and BMP7, halted the growth of medulloblastoma tumors and induced the malignant cells to develop ...fer experiments in mice to test BMPs as a possible medulloblastoma treatment. Using a genetically altered virus, scie...

St. Jude Defines Eye Cancer Gene's Role in Retinal Development

...to transform normal cells into cancerous ones. Malfunctioning N-myc genes are often associated with pediatric neural cancers, including neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and retinoblastoma. Recently, Dyer and his team identified the specific type of cell that gives rise to retinoblastoma, a potentially fatal malign...

Medulloblastoma in Biological News

New tumor markers determine therapy intensity

...he prestigious Journal of Clinical Oncology . medulloblastoma is the most frequent childhood brain tumor The...t common malignant brain tumor in childhood is the medulloblastoma every year, more than 100 children in Germany dev...mors" first described the new tumor markers in the medulloblastoma in 2007. For the current study, he examined tumor ...

Researchers discover gene mutations that cause childhood brain cancer

...s that, when mutated, appear to be responsible for medulloblastoma the most common of childhood brain cancers. The f... deaths. The most common childhood brain cancer is medulloblastoma a tumour that occurs at the back of the brain in ...e. In Canada, about 40 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma every year and half of these will survive. Man...

Certain anticancer agents could be harmful to patients with heart disease

...ed against several of these cancers, including basal cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer), prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and medulloblastoma (a type of brain tumor). These trials are still in the early stage. The current study was the first demonstration that hedgehog signaling is essent...

Protein protects embryonic stem cells' versatility and self-renewal

...ce of publication grew from M. D. Anderson research on the proteins role in medulloblastoma an exceptionally aggressive pediatric brain cancer. Embryonic stem cel...n medulloblastomas. Understanding REST function has applications in both medulloblastoma and embryonic stem cell biology. "Just as blocking REST function has thera...

St. Jude defines eye cancer gene's role in retinal development

...to transform normal cells into cancerous ones. Malfunctioning N-myc genes are often associated with pediatric neural cancers, including neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and retinoblastoma. Recently, Dyer and his team identified the specific type of cell that gives rise to retinoblastoma, a potentially fatal maligna...

Statin plus cancer drug deliver combo punch to brain cancer cells

...ng lovastatin and cyclopamine killed 63 percent of medulloblastoma cells grown in the laboratory. By contrast, using...en the expression of key hedgehog-related genes in medulloblastoma cells and another cell signal already tied to canc...l-2 and hedgehog expression increased in tandem in medulloblastoma cells, they tried adding hedgehog-blocking cyclopa...

Stem Cells Found In Cerebellum; Possible Cell of Origin for Childhood Brain Tumors

...size that tumors could arise when stem cells in the cerebellum become inappropriately activated and multiply uncontrollably. Identifying the source of medulloblastoma could enable researchers to more effectively disrupt the genes and proteins that fuel its growth. Stem cells are immature cells that have the poten...