Animal model of childhood brain cancer could lead to personalized treatments

Scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute are one step closer to providing personalized treatments to children with a certain type of brain cancer called medulloblastoma. While 75 percent of children diagnosed with this cancer of the cerebellum survive with aggressive treatment, it can lead to devastating brain damage and other problems. A new animal model that mimics the disease has revealed a potential strategy to inhibit the growth of medulloblastoma tumors, which are caused by elevated levels of a gene called Myc. “Being able to use an animal model as a tool to test treatments has been very valuable in medulloblastoma, as in other types of tumors. But for Myc-associated tumors, that hasn’t been an option because there hasn’t been a model of the disease. This is the first step to developing therapies for this type of tumor,” explained Robert Wechsler-Reya, senior author of the study.