Promotes Tumorigenesis in a Mouse Model of Medulloblastoma

Recent publications have described an important role for cross talk between PI-3 kinase and sonic hedgehog signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of medulloblastoma. deficient tumors exhibited extensive nodularity with neuronal differentiation separated by focal areas of intense staining for proliferation and virtually absent apoptosis. Examination of human medulloblastomas revealed low to absent PTEN expression in over half of the tumors. Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed worse overall survival in patients whose tumor exhibited low to absent PTEN expression.This suggests that PTEN expression is a marker of favorable prognosis and mouse models with activation of PI-3 kinase pathways may be important tools for preclinical evaluation of promising agents for the treatment of medulloblastoma