Bruno Alicke1, Christopher Callahan2, Ryan Ybarra3, Stephen Gould1, Joan Greve4
1Small Molecule Translational Oncology, Genentech, Inc.; 2Research Pathology, Genentech, Inc.; 3Mouse Genetics, Genentech, Inc.; 4Biomedical Imaging, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Although current standards of care have improved survival, approximately 1/3 of patients are not cured and current therapies are associated with significant morbidity. Therefore, alternative therapeutic approaches are strongly desired. Of particular interest are therapies that target molecular pathways shown to be deregulated in medulloblastoma, such as the hedgehog signaling pathway. These data show that MRI, when combined with pre-clinical pharmacokinetic data, may have utility for determining therapeutic dose and response in both preclinical and clinical settings.