New treatment option for paediatric brain tumours

Medulloblastoma is one of the most common malignant brain tumours of the central nervous system in children and young people. Around 70 to 80 per cent of those affected can be cured using current treatments. However, many are left to live with severe long-term effects of the aggressive treatments. There is an urgent need for targeted therapies that attack only tumour vulnerabilities whilst sparing normal tissue. Researchers led by Daniel Merk from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research at Tübingen University Hospital have identified such a vulnerability in the genetic makeup of a subtype of medulloblastoma. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation supported the project with €111,000.