PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE ED - , TI - Signaling Brain Tumor Growth AID - 10.1126/stke.2002.148.tw327 DP - 2002 Sep 03 TA - Science's STKE PG - tw327--tw327 VI - 2002 IP - 148 4099 - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/2002/148/tw327.short 4100 - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/2002/148/tw327.full SO - Sci. STKE2002 Sep 03; 2002 AB - Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. The most common of these are medulloblastomas, highly aggressive tumors that arise in the cerebellum and whose molecular etiology is poorly understood. Berman et al. show that initiation and continued growth of these tumors requires the Hedgehog (Hh) cellular signaling pathway. Treatment of mice with cyclopamine, a plant-derived molecule that inhibits Hh signaling, caused regression of medulloblastomas with no apparent side effects; thus, small-molecule antagonists of Hh may merit investigation as a new therapy for human medulloblastoma. D. M. Berman, S. S. Karhadkar, A. R. Hallahan, J. I. Pritchard, C. G. Eberhart, D. N. Watkins, J. K. Chen, M. K. Cooper, J. Taipale, J. M. Olson, P. A. Beachy, Medulloblastoma growth inhibition by Hedgehog pathway blockade, Science 297, 1559-1561 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]