Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2020 Jul;41(7):1279-1285

From the School of Computer Science and Engineering (R.H., B.Z., C.Z.)

Background And Purpose: Differentiating the types of pediatric posterior fossa tumors on routine imaging may help in preoperative evaluation and guide surgical resection planning. However, qualitative radiologic MR imaging review has limited performance. This study aimed to compare different machine learning approaches to classify pediatric posterior fossa tumors on routine MR imaging. Read More

Pediatr Blood Cancer 2020 Jul 11:e28538. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

San Vito al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Scientific Institute Eugenio Medea, Italy.

Background: Cerebellar tumor survivors often exhibit neuropsychological deficits that could be related to alterations in cerebro-cerebellar networks. This is a pilot study designed to understand if diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based tractography is able to identify possible correlations between cerebellar white matter structure and cognitive outcome in children on long-term follow-up for posterior fossa (PF) tumors who were thoroughly assessed for neuropsychological functioning.

Methods: DTI-based tractography was performed in pediatric patients with PF tumors. Read More

Neurooncol Adv 2020 Jan-Dec;2(1):vdaa062. Epub 2020 May 27.

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.

Background: Identifying mechanisms of medulloblastoma recurrence is a key to improving patient survival, and targeting treatment-resistant subpopulations within tumors could reduce disease recurrence. Expression of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor (G-CSF-R, CD114) is a potential marker of cancer stem cells, and therefore we hypothesized that a subpopulation of medulloblastoma cells would also express CD114 and would demonstrate chemoresistance and responsiveness to G-CSF.

Methods: Prevalence of CD114-positive (CD114+) cells in medulloblastoma cell lines, patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors, and primary patient tumor samples were assessed by flow cytometry. Read More

Childs Nerv Syst 2020 Jul 1. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.

Purpose: Tumorigenesis of medulloblastoma is believed to be associated with granule cell progenitor neurogenesis of the cerebellum. Nevertheless, congenital medulloblastomas are rarely found. Here, we report a case of congenital medulloblastoma that showed spontaneous albeit transient regression. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2020 Jun 24;12(6). Epub 2020 Jun 24.

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.

Major advances in high precision treatment delivery and imaging have greatly improved the tolerance of radiotherapy (RT); however, the selective sparing of normal tissue and the reduction of neurocognitive side effects from radiation-induced toxicities remain significant problems for pediatric patients with brain tumors. While the overall survival of pediatric patients afflicted with medulloblastoma (MB), the most common type primary brain cancer in children, remains high (≥80%), lifelong neurotoxic side-effects are commonplace and adversely impact patients' quality of life. To circumvent these clinical complications, we have investigated the capability of ultra-high dose rate FLASH-radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) to protect the radiosensitive juvenile mouse brain from normal tissue toxicities. Read More

World Neurosurg 2020 Jun 24. Epub 2020 Jun 24.

Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital Organization Kanazawa Medical Center, 1-1, Shimo-ishibiki-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 9208650, Japan.

Background: Radiation-induced spinal cord cavernous malformations (CMs) are rare pathologies compared to radiation-induced cerebral CMs. We present a case of a radiation-induced spinal cord CM developed 31 years after radiation therapy for medulloblastoma.

Case Description: A 37-year-old man developed a symptomatic spinal hemorrhagic lesion 31 years after radiation therapy for medulloblastoma. Read More

Childs Nerv Syst 2020 Jun 26. Epub 2020 Jun 26.

Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Oncology Institute-GRAACC, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Purpose: In neurogenesis, ASPM (abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated) gene is expressed mainly in the ventricular zone of posterior fossa and is the major determinant in the cerebral cortex. Besides its role in embryonic development, ASPM overexpression promotes tumor growth, including central nervous system (CNS) tumors. This study aims to investigate ASPM expression levels in most frequent posterior fossa brain tumors of childhood and adolescence: medulloblastoma (MB), ependymoma (EPN), and astrocytoma (AS), correlating them with clinicopathological characteristics and tumor solid portion size. Read More

Pediatr Blood Cancer 2020 Jun 26:e28468. Epub 2020 Jun 26.

Doctoral Program, Department of Radiology, Hanoi Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam.

Background: Differentiation between cerebellar medulloblastoma and brainstem glioma is necessary for certain clinical circumstances. We aimed to evaluate the function of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics in the differentiation between cerebellar medulloblastomas and brainstem gliomas in children.

Procedure: The institutional review board approved this prospective study. Read More

Childs Nerv Syst 2020 Jun 18. Epub 2020 Jun 18.

Department of Neurosurgery, Kansai Medical University, 2-5-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata City, Osaka, 573-1010, Japan.

Medulloblastoma is the second-most common malignant tumor in children. Medulloblastoma has been categorized into four distinct molecular subgroups: WNT, sonic hedgehog (SHH), group 3, and group 4. We report on a male child with medulloblastoma, in whom an enlarged ventricle was diagnosed in utero. Read More

BMC Cancer 2020 Jun 15;20(1):554. Epub 2020 Jun 15.

Neurosurgical Service, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 229899, Singapore.

Background: Metastatic medulloblastoma (MB) portends a poor prognosis. Amongst the 4 molecular subtypes, Group 3 and Group 4 patients have a higher incidence of metastatic disease, especially involving the neuroaxis. At present, mechanisms underlying MB metastasis remain elusive. Read More

Acta Radiol 2020 Jun 15:284185120933219. Epub 2020 Jun 15.

Department of Pathology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Background: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) provides information about the cellular density of tumors. This feature is useful in grading and identifying different tumor types.

Purpose: To assess the value of diffusion restriction and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in differentiating pediatric infratentorial tumors. Read More

Curr Biol 2020 May 28. Epub 2020 May 28.

Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address:

The regulation of proliferation is a primary function of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling in development. Hh signal transduction requires the primary cilium for several steps in the pathway [1-5]. Many cells only build a primary cilium upon cell cycle exit, in G0. Read More

J Neuroimaging 2020 Jul 12;30(4):503-511. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

Department of Diagnostic Imaging, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.

Background And Purpose: The molecular groups WNT activated (WNT), Sonic hedgehog activated (SHH), group 3, and group 4 are biologically and clinically distinct forms of medulloblastoma. We evaluated apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values' utility in differentiating/predicting medulloblastoma groups at the initial diagnostic imaging evaluation and prior to surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively measured the ADC values of the enhancing, solid portion of the tumor (EST) and of the whole tumor (WT) and performed Kruskal-Wallis testing to compare the absolute tumor ADC values and cerebellar and thalamic ratios of three medulloblastoma groups (WNT, SHH, and group 3/group 4 combined). Read More

Indian J Radiol Imaging 2020 Jan-Mar;30(1):46-51. Epub 2020 Mar 30.

Department of Pediatrics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the imaging features of medulloblastoma (MB) and correlate the MR characteristics with the different histological subtype of MB with 2-year survival.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study. A total of 29 patients diagnosed with MB from January 2005 to December 2015 were included in this study. Read More

J Proteomics 2020 May 28;225:103832. Epub 2020 May 28.

Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Center of Brain Tumor, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Tumor, China. Electronic address:

Objective: To identify candidate urinary protein biomarkers to distinguish medulloblastoma (MB) patients from healthy patients or benign brain disease control patients.

Methods: The tandem mass tag (TMT)-labeled quantitative proteomics approach was used to identify differential proteins in the urinary proteome of 9 pre- and postsurgery MB patients and 9 healthy control patients, respectively. Ingenuity pathway analysis was used for functional annotation of differential proteins. Read More

Mol Genet Genomic Med 2020 May 17:e1302. Epub 2020 May 17.

Department of Pediatrics, MRC Oulu, PEDEGO Research Unit, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.

Background: Medulloblastomas (MBs) are a heterogeneous group of childhood brain tumors with four consensus subgroups, namely MB , MB , MB , and MB , representing the second most common type of pediatric brain cancer after high-grade gliomas. They suffer from a high prevalence of genetic predisposition with up to 20% of MB caused by germline mutations in only six genes. However, the spectrum of germline mutations in MB remains incomplete. Read More

Neuro Oncol 2020 May 15. Epub 2020 May 15.

Division of Haematology/Oncology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Background: Infant medulloblastoma represents an enormous challenge in neuro-oncology, due to their simultaneous high-risk of recurrence and high risk of severe neurodevelopmental sequelae with craniospinal irradiation. Currently infant medulloblastoma are treated with intensified protocols, either comprising intraventricular methotrexate or autologous transplant, both of which carry significant morbidity and are not feasible in the majority of the world. We sought to evaluate the molecular predictors of outcome in a cohort of infants homogeneously treated with induction chemotherapy, focal radiation and maintenance chemotherapy. Read More

Anticancer Res 2020 May;40(5):2975-2980

School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.

Background/aim: Even though advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can effectively differentiate between medulloblastoma and ependymoma, it is not readily available throughout the world. This study aimed to investigate the role of simple quantified basic MRI sequences in the differentiation between medulloblastoma and ependymoma in children.

Patients And Methods: The institutional review board approved this prospective study. Read More

J Neurosurg Pediatr 2020 May 1:1-9. Epub 2020 May 1.

2Neurosurgery.

Objective: Chemotherapy infusions directly into the fourth ventricle may play a role in treating malignant fourth-ventricular tumors. This study tested the safety and pharmacokinetics of short-term and long-term administration of MTX110 (soluble panobinostat; Midatech Pharma) into the fourth ventricle of nonhuman primates.

Methods: Four rhesus macaque monkeys underwent posterior fossa craniectomy and catheter insertion into the fourth ventricle. Read More

J Pathol 2020 Apr;250(5):475-479

RECAMO, Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.

This year's Annual Review Issue of The Journal of Pathology contains 18 invited reviews on current research areas in pathology. The subject areas reflect the broad range of topics covered by the journal and this year encompass the development and application of software in digital histopathology, implementation of biomarkers in pathology practice; genetics and epigenetics, and stromal influences in disease. The reviews are authored by experts in their field and provide comprehensive updates in the chosen areas, in which there has been considerable recent progress in our understanding of disease. Read More

Folia Med (Plovdiv) 2019 12;61(4):630-633

Military Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Pediatr Blood Cancer 2020 Jun 14;67(6):e28189. Epub 2020 Apr 14.

Department of Neurosurgery, LeBonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee.

Background: Despite improved survival, many pediatric brain tumor survivors receiving radiation therapy (RT) experience late effects.

Procedure: To study calvarial lesions in this population, we retrospectively reviewed records of patients undergoing neurosurgical evaluation for calvarial bone lesions detected in posttreatment follow-up imaging at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Read More

Anal Chem 2020 May 22;92(9):6349-6357. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health, University Health Network, 100 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1P5, Canada.

For a more comprehensive characterization of molecular heterogeneities of matter, multimodal mass spectrometry imaging must be developed to take advantage of the complementarity of information available through different ionization mechanisms. We report the design, implementation, and performance validation of a laser desorption imaging interface composed of add-on components that adapt a commercial Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (DESI-MS) imaging interface for dual imaging of Picosecond Infrared Laser Mass Spectrometry (PIRL-MS) with DESI-MS. The interface utilizes hardware elements and data analysis pipelines already established for DESI-MS imaging, and was further validated in cancer margin assessments using human medulloblastoma cancers. Read More

Acad Radiol 2020 Mar 25. Epub 2020 Mar 25.

School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, NO.101 Kexue Road, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China. Electronic address:

Rationale And Objectives: Ependymoma (EP) and medulloblastoma (MB) of children are similar in age, location, manifestations and symptoms. Therefore, it is difficult to differentiate them through visual observation in clinical diagnosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of radiomics and machine-learning techniques on multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in distinguish EP from MB. Read More

Neuro Oncol 2020 Mar 26. Epub 2020 Mar 26.

Department of Neurology, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Background: Although the Response Assessment in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (RAPNO) working group has made recommendations for response assessment in patients with medulloblastoma (MBL) and leptomeningeal seeding tumors, these criteria have yet to be evaluated.

Methods: We examined MR imaging and clinical data in a multicenter retrospective cohort of 269 patients diagnosed with MBL, high grade glioma, embryonal tumor, germ cell tumor, or choroid plexus papilloma. Inter-observer agreement, objective response rates (ORRs) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated. Read More

J Neurooncol 2020 May 16;147(3):531-545. Epub 2020 Mar 16.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.

Purpose: MYC-driven medulloblastomas are highly aggressive childhood tumors with dismal outcomes and a lack of new treatment paradigms. We identified that targeting replication stress through WEE1 inhibition to suppress the S-phase replication checkpoint, combined with the attenuation of nucleotide synthesis with gemcitabine, is an effective strategy to induce apoptosis in MYC-driven medulloblastoma that could be rapidly translated into early phase clinical trials in children. Attenuation of replication stress is a key component of MYC-driven oncogenesis. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2020 Mar 11;12(3). Epub 2020 Mar 11.

Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.

In 2016, a project was initiated in Taiwan to adopt molecular diagnosis of childhood medulloblastoma (MB). In this study, we aimed to identify a molecular-clinical correlation and somatic mutation for exploring risk-adapted treatment, drug targets, and potential genetic predisposition. In total, 52 frozen tumor tissues of childhood MBs were collected. Read More

Neuro Oncol 2020 Mar 10. Epub 2020 Mar 10.

Department of Pediatrics, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.

Background: Recurrent pediatric medulloblastoma and ependymoma have a grim prognosis. We report a first-in-human, phase I study of intraventricular infusions of ex-vivo expanded autologous natural killer (NK) cells in these tumors, with correlative studies.

Methods: Twelve patients were enrolled, 9 received protocol therapy up to 3 infusions weekly, in escalating doses from 3x106 to 3x108 NK cells/m2/infusion, for up to 3 cycles. Read More

Neuroradiology 2020 Jun 6;62(6):705-713. Epub 2020 Mar 6.

UOC Radiodiagnostica e Neuroradiologia, Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini, Radioterapia, Oncologia ed Ematologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.

Purpose: Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is useful for glioma grading and discriminating between brain tumor categories in adults, but its diagnostic value for pediatric brain tumors is unclear. Here we evaluated the usefulness of SWI for pediatric tumor grading and differentiation by assessing intratumoral susceptibility signal intensity (ITSS).

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 96 children with histopathologically diagnosed brain tumors, who underwent routine brain MRI exam with SWI (1. Read More

Sci Rep 2020 Mar 2;10(1):3800. Epub 2020 Mar 2.

Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, 19803, USA.

In vivo positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a key modality to evaluate disease status of brain tumors. In recent years, tremendous efforts have been made in developing PET imaging methods for pediatric brain tumors. Carbon-11 labelled tryptophan derivatives are feasible as PET imaging probes in brain tumor patients with activation of the kynurenine pathway, but the short half-life of carbon-11 limits its application. Read More

Front Oncol 2020 7;10:71. Epub 2020 Feb 7.

Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.

We applied machine learning algorithms for differentiation of posterior fossa tumors using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis and structural MRI findings. A total of 256 patients with intra-axial posterior fossa tumors were identified, of whom 248 were included in machine learning analysis, with at least 6 representative subjects per each tumor pathology. The ADC histograms of solid components of tumors, structural MRI findings, and patients' age were applied to construct decision models using Classification and Regression Tree analysis. Read More

Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi 2020 Jan;100(3):178-181

School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, International laboratory for Children's Medical Imaging Research Nanjing, Nanjing 210096, China.

To evaluate the classification of the types of pediatric posterior fossa brain tumors based on routine MRI (T(1)WI, T(2)WI and ADC) using wavelet transformation analysis of whole tumor. MRI images of medulloblastoma (59), ependymoma (13) and pilocytic astrocytoma (27) confirmed by pathology before treatments in Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2014 to February 2019 were enrolled in this retrospective study as well as the clinical data of age, gender and symptoms. Registration was performed among the three sequences and wavelet features of ROI were acquired. Read More

J Nucl Med 2020 May 31;61(5):662-664. Epub 2020 Jan 31.

Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.

The incidence of abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow dynamics in children with central nervous system (CNS) tumors before intraventricular therapy has not been described. We performed a single-institution, retrospective review of patients with primary or metastatic CNS tumors treated between 2003 and 2018 (15 y). Patients underwent In-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid injection into the CSF intraventricular space followed by nuclear medicine imaging at 90 min, 4 h, 24 h, and 48 h (if required). Read More

J Neuroimaging 2020 03 6;30(2):192-197. Epub 2020 Jan 6.

Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

Background And Purpose: Posterior fossa syndrome (PFS), characterized by loss of language and other neurological impairments within the immediate postoperative period, occurs in approximately 25% of children who undergo surgical resection of posterior fossa tumors. Diffusion tensor imaging connectomics offer promise for elucidation of pathway-level disruption in neural connectivity of patients with this disorder. We aim to determine differences in pre- and postoperative connectomics between children with PFS and children with mild or no language deficit after surgery. Read More

Zhongguo Yi Xue Ke Xue Yuan Xue Bao 2019 Dec;41(6):756-760

Department of Radiology,the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University,Suzhou,Jiangsu 215006,China.

To investigate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI)and apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of posterior fossa solid hemangioblastoma(PFSH). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 15 PFSH patients and 58 patients with other hypervascular tumors in the posterior fossa(the latter included 23 cases of meningioma,5 cases of medulloblastoma,8 cases of acoustic neuroma,4 cases of hemangiopericytoma,5 cases of lymphoma,9 cases of metastatic tumor,3 cases of astrocytoma,and 1 case of choroid plexus papilloma)confirmed by operation and pathology.All patients underwent axial DWI scans,and the mean ADC value of solid part of the tumors and the adjacent normal cerebellar white matter were measured,and then the normalized ADC was calculated. Read More

World Neurosurg 2020 Mar 3;135:16-18. Epub 2019 Dec 3.

Departments of Neuropathology and Neurosurgery, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangladore, India. Electronic address:

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) with myogenic differentiation is a rare histologic variant.

Case Description: We report a case of a 7-year-old female child who presented with a left cerebellar mass. Histopathologic examination showed a cellular neoplasm comprising undifferentiated cells along with foci of bizarre giant cells. Read More

Neuroradiol J 2020 Feb 27;33(1):75-79. Epub 2019 Nov 27.

Department of Neurosurgery, Üsküdar University NPİstanbul Brain Hospital, Turkey.

Medulloblastoma (MB) that arises outside the cerebellum from cells of the dorsal brainstem is rare. The most common subtype of MB in the dorsal brainstem is the Wingless (WNT) subtype that contains activating mutations in the WNT pathway effector CTNNB1. Ipsilateral cerebellar hemi-atrophy with a brainstem tumour is a finding that is usually documented with brainstem gangliogliomas as a possible specific imaging sign. Read More

Pan Afr Med J 2019 11;34:23. Epub 2019 Sep 11.

Neurosurgery Department, Ibn-Tofail Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.

Central nervous system tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Intracranial tuberculoma is rare and is one of the most severe cases of tuberculosis. We present two cases. Read More

Front Neurosci 2019 23;13:1113. Epub 2019 Oct 23.

Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic value of MRI-based texture analysis in discriminating common posterior fossa tumors, including medulloblastoma, brain metastatic tumor, and hemangioblastoma.

Methods: A total number of 185 patients were enrolled in the current study: 63 of them were diagnosed with medulloblastoma, 56 were diagnosed with brain metastatic tumor, and 66 were diagnosed with hemangioblastoma. Texture features were extracted from contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1C) images and fluid-attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) images within two matrixes. Read More

Childs Nerv Syst 2019 12 4;35(12):2327-2338. Epub 2019 Nov 4.

Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC2N 3JH, UK.

Purpose: To compare results from a third (1995-2010) cohort of children with medulloblastoma with two previous series (J Neurosurg 86:13-21, 1997; Arch Dis Child 54:200-203, 1979) to analyse the effects of management changes aimed at improving both overall and event-free survivals (OS and EFS) and functional outcomes.

Methods: Review of neuro-oncology and imaging databases and previously published results.

Results: There was no statistically significant improvement in the 5-year OS for 104 children diagnosed 1995-2010, 61. Read More

Open Access Maced J Med Sci 2019 Aug 14;7(15):2413-2418. Epub 2019 Aug 14.

Department of Radiology, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Vietnam.

Background: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) nowadays plays an important role in the evaluation of posterior fossa brain tumours in children for appropriate diagnosis, treatment planning, and follow-up.

Aim: To assess the MRI features of common posterior fossa brain tumours including medulloblastomas, ependymomas, and pilocytic astrocytomas along with the postoperative parameters to contribute the local knowledge to the neuroradiology and neurosurgery fields.

Methods: The study was performed at Children's Hospital 02 from January 2016 to June 2019. Read More

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2019 11 24;40(11):1811-1817. Epub 2019 Oct 24.

From the Department of Neuroradiology (A.S., B.B., M.P., M.W.-M.), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.

Background And Purpose: In addition to the 4 histopathologically defined entities of medulloblastoma, 4 distinct genetically defined subgroups have been included in the World Health Organization classification of 2016. The smallest subgroup is the medulloblastoma with activated wingless pathway. The goal of this study was to identify a typical MR imaging morphology in a larger number of pediatric patients with wingless pathway medulloblastoma. Read More

World Neurosurg 2020 Jan 9;133:324-330. Epub 2019 Oct 9.

Deparment of Radiology, Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, Punjab, India.

Background: Gorlin-Goltz syndrome is a rare hereditary disease affecting multiple organ systems. Medulloblastoma is the most common intracranial malignancy in these patients, radiotherapy makes them more susceptible to intracranial meningioma. Here we report an intracranial meningioma without radiation exposure. Read More

Cancer Res 2019 11 11;79(22):5874-5883. Epub 2019 Oct 11.

Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom.

Increased stiffness in the extracellular matrix (ECM) contributes to tumor progression and metastasis. Therefore, stromal modulating therapies and accompanying biomarkers are being developed to target ECM stiffness. Magnetic resonance (MR) elastography can noninvasively and quantitatively map the viscoelastic properties of tumors and thus has clear clinical applications. Read More

Br J Radiol 2020 Mar 1;93(1107):20190673. Epub 2019 Nov 1.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States.

Objective: The Pediatric Proton/Photon Consortium Registry (PPCR) is a comprehensive data registry composed of pediatric patients treated with radiation. It was established to expedite outcomes-based research. The attributes which allow the PPCR to be a successful collaboration are reviewed. Read More

World Neurosurg 2020 May 4;137:e27-e33. Epub 2019 Oct 4.

Department of Plastic and Burn Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Electronic address:

Objective: To investigate whether tumor texture features derived from preoperative T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are associated with overall survival (OS) of patients with non-wingless-type (WNT)/non-sonic hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastoma.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 38 patients with non-WNT/non-SHH (encompassing group 3 and group 4) medulloblastoma treated with surgery in our institution from 2013 to 2016. All patients were followed-up for at least 2 years or until death. Read More

J Neuroradiol 2020 Feb 18;47(1):46-53. Epub 2019 Sep 18.

Department of Pediatric Radiology, Clocheville University Hospital, CHRU Tours, Tours, France; Faculty of Medicine, Francois-Rabelais University, Tours, France.

Imaging plays a major role in the comprehensive assessment of posterior fossa tumor in children (PFTC). The objective is to propose a global method relying on the combined analysis of radiological, clinical and epidemiological criteria, (taking into account the child's age and the topography of the lesion) in order to improve our histological approach in imaging, helping the management and approach for surgeons in providing information to the patients' parents. Infratentorial tumors are the most frequent in children, representing mainly medulloblastoma, pilocytic astrocytoma and brainstem glioma. Read More

Pharmaceutics 2019 Sep 17;11(9). Epub 2019 Sep 17.

Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T6, Canada.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) poses a major obstacle by preventing potential therapeutic agents from reaching their intended brain targets at sufficient concentrations. While transient disruption of the BBB has been used to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy in treating brain tumors, limitations in terms of magnitude and duration of BBB disruption exist. In the present study, the preliminary safety and efficacy profile of HAV6, a peptide that binds to the external domains of cadherin, to transiently open the BBB and improve the delivery of a therapeutic agent, was evaluated in a murine brain tumor model. Read More

Oncotarget 2019 Aug 6;10(47):4805-4807. Epub 2019 Aug 6.

Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, INDIA.

Pediatr Neurosurg 2019 3;54(5):329-340. Epub 2019 Sep 3.

Department of Neuropathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.

Objective: Medulloblastoma (MB) is a heterogenous tumor, and the prognosis is influenced by various clinical, histological, and molecular factors. The aim of the study is to determine the clinical profile and radiologic characteristics among the histo-molecular subgroups, the predictors of surgical outcome, and the pattern of relapse in pediatric and adult MB.

Method: An analysis of 118 patients of MB who underwent surgical treatment at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India, over a 7-year period (2005-2011) is presented. Read More