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Molecular
pathogenesis of childhood brain tumors
Torsten Pietsch, Michael D. Taylor, James T.
Rutka
Department of Neuropathology, University of Bonn
Medical Center, Bonn, Germany [T.P.]; Division of Neurosurgery,
Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Ontario,
Toronto, M5G-1X8, Canada [M.D.T., J.T.R.].
In the last decade, the
molecular biology revolution has advanced considerably.
These advances have enhanced our understanding of the genetic
underpinnings of human brain tumors in general, and pediatric
brain tumors in particular.
We now know that many pediatric brain tumors arise from
disturbances in developmentally regulated signaling
pathways.
The medulloblastoma, a tumor in which the developmental Hedgehog
and WNT pathways have gone awry, is a prime example of this.
New techniques in genetic engineering have allowed for the
creation of sophisticated mouse models of brain tumors that
recapitulate the human disease.
Many laboratories are now using cDNA microarrays to study the
expression level of thousands of genes that may be aberrantly
expressed in brain tumors when compared to normal control
cells.
In the next decade, the use of several new molecular techniques to
establish brain tumor diagnoses will likely become standard tools
in the diagnostics and treatment stratification of children with
central nervous system tumors.
Keywords: atypical teratoid/rhabdoid
tumor, choroid plexus tumors, ependymoma, medulloblastoma,
molecular genetics, pilocytic astrocytoma
Copyright ©
2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
All rights reserved
Source: http://ipsapp007.kluweronline.com/IPS/content/ext/x/J/5042/I/125/A/6/abstract.htm
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