Deadly brain tumors are hopefully prevented! On the same day, two articles "Nature" uncovered the root causes of tumors buried in brain development

Medulloblastoma is a brain tumor and a more common type of childhood cancer, often developing when a child is about seven years old
.

There are currently surgeries, high-dose chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other treatments, but despite this, 40% of medulloblastoma patients will still be killed by this aggressive tumor, and those who survive must deal with the toxicity
associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

In the latest issue of Nature, two research papers published simultaneously have brought exciting news
to the fight against medulloblastoma.

For the most common but least well-known subtype of medulloblastoma, scientists at several research institutions around the world have worked together to reveal how such tumors originate during human embryonic development, thus finding a critical time window to detect and prevent the development of
tumors before they develop, and for the first time confirm that this deadly brain tumor is potentially preventable.

Researchers from research institutions such as the University of Manitoba in Canada, the National Cancer Center of Japan, the Seattle Children's Institute in the United States, and the Children's Hospital in Toronto in Canada collected medulloblastoma samples
donated by patients' families from nearly 50 children's hospitals around the world.

Using a variety of cutting-edge techniques such as single-cell RNA sequencing, they made extensive comparisons between tumor tissue and normal tissue, and finally identified genetic mutations and cell types
that may lead to subtypes 3 and 4.

Nature: Nearly 90,000 cells were sequenced individually, and the individualized treatment of children's brain tumors completed the groundbreaking work

They found that these mutations cause genes to lose function, with the result that normal differentiation
of cells is blocked in specific cell types.

The human cerebellum is more complex
than other mammals.

The researchers believe this may mean that medulloblastoma is a direct consequence
of the more complex evolution of the human cerebellum.

▲During human cerebellar development, the differentiation defects of specific cell groups within the rhombic lip structure are the origin of medulloblastoma subtypes 3 and 4 (Image source: Reference [3])

A more important finding in the new study is that medulloblastoma originates much
earlier in pregnancy than previously thought.

The results indicate that medulloblastoma initially develops in the first trimester (first 3 months of pregnancy) or the second trimester (4th to 6th month) and exists
in a pre-malignant form before birth.

The result means that from after birth until the onset of symptoms, usually between the age of 7 and so, there is a window of opportunity for several years to prevent medulloblastomas from turning into deadly brain tumors
before they develop.

"Now that we can determine the origin of these tumors, we can develop better disease models for extensive drug testing and even earlier detection
.
"
Professor Tamra Werbowetski-Ogilvie, one of the lead authors, noted
.

"For children, the best outcome is to prevent cancer from happening in the first place, rather than treating
it after it has occurred.

Another lead author, pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Taylor, said these new advances are expected to lead to significant advances
in the treatment of medulloblastoma.