Technique could speed new medulloblas...( specially active in subgroup D. The ...),Health

The researchers then looked at the DNA sequences in the tumors to show that gene mutations that activate the WNT pathway were only found in subgroup-B tumors, and mutations that activate the SHH pathway were restricted to subgroup-D tumors. Looking for patterns of gene expression can be done much more rapidly than looking for gene mutations; therefore, in future studies of novel drugs, such gene expression signatures could be used to quickly identify which signaling pathways are responsible for medulloblastoma in specific children. Only those children would receive the drug during clinical trials.

"Our work showed that drugs that target specific pathways are likely to be effective in distinct populations of patients with medulloblastomas," said Margaret Thompson, M.D., Ph.D., clinical fellow in the Gilbertson lab. She is the first author of the paper. "We believe our technique will provide a rapid and accurate way to select appropriate patients for clinical trials of each molecular targeted therapy for medulloblastoma."

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Contact: Bonnie Kourvelas
media@stjude.org
901-495-3306
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
17-Apr-2006