http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/12/17/brain-tumours-children-medulloblas
toma.html

Child brain tumour DNA decoded 
Last Updated: Friday, December 17, 2010 | 5:38 PM ET Comments9Recommend19CBC
News 
Childhood brain tumours have fewer genetic mutations than similar tumours in
adults, a new genetic mapping study shows.

Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children.
The findings on genetic mutations will be helpful in developing new
treatments for medulloblastoma, a brain tumour that mainly affects children,
a co-author of the study said.

"Now, we must figure out how to put the puzzle together and zero in on parts
of the puzzle to develop new therapies," said Dr. Bert Vogelstein of Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

In this week's online issue of the journal Science, researchers identified
genetic changes in tumours taken from 22 children with medulloblastoma and
compared them with normal DNA.

The researchers found surgically removed child tumours had five to 10 times
fewer genetic changes than did tumour samples from adults.

Each child tumour sample had an average of 11 mutations. Among the most
frequently mutated genes were those affecting signalling pathways key to
normal brain development.

Newly identified mutations were found in the MLL2 and MLL3 genes, which are
known to help suppress tumours and were not previously implicated in
medulloblastoma.

"These genes interfere with biological signals during development," Dr.
Peter Phillips of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said in a
statement.

About 60 per cent of children diagnosed with medulloblastoma now survive at
least five years, but there can be physical and neurological disabilities
from the disease, surgery and radiation treatments.

Medulloblastoma is mainly a disease of very young children and is
particularly deadly among babies under 18 months of age, according to the
Canadian Cancer Society. In Canada, about 40 children a year are diagnosed
with medulloblastoma.

The study included one Canadian author, Dr. Michael Taylor of Toronto's
Hospital for Sick Children. Taylor has previously pinpointed genes that are
mutated in medulloblastoma.

With files from The Canadian Press 

Read more:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/12/17/brain-tumours-children-medulloblas
toma.html#ixzz18YonUYo5

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