THE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY OF MEDULLOBLASTOMA

Medulloblastomas are prototypical of primitive neuroectodermal tumors which are some of the most frequent malignant brain tumors of childhoo d. The cell biology of medulloblastomas is still poorly understood, bu t recent studies of the expression of trophic factors and their recept ors in medulloblastomas and the development of animal models of primit ive neuroectodermal tumors may provide clues as to the induction or pr ogression of these tumors. For example, they could clarify mechanisms that regulate cell death, proliferation and differentiation in these t umors.