Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Oncogene. 2024 Mar;43(12):839-850. doi: 10.1038/s41388-024-02967-9. Epub 2024 Feb 14.
Medulloblastoma is one of the most common malignant pediatric brain tumors derived from posterior fossa. The current treatment includes maximal safe surgical resection, radiotherapy, whole cranio-spinal radiation and adjuvant with chemotherapy. However, it can only limitedly prolong the survival time with severe side effects and relapse. Defining the intratumoral heterogeneity, cellular origin and identifying the interaction network within tumor microenvironment are helpful for understanding the mechanisms of medulloblastoma tumorigenesis and relapse. Due to technological limitations, the mechanisms of cellular heterogeneity and tumor origin have not been fully understood. Recently, the emergence of single-cell technology has provided a powerful tool for achieving the goal of understanding the mechanisms of tumorigenesis. Several studies have demonstrated the intratumoral heterogeneity and tumor origin for each subtype of medulloblastoma utilizing the single-cell RNA-seq, which has not been uncovered before using conventional technologies. In this review, we present an overview of the current progress in understanding of cellular heterogeneity and tumor origin of medulloblastoma and discuss novel findings in the age of single-cell technologies.
髓母细胞瘤是源自后颅窝的最常见的小儿脑恶性肿瘤之一。目前的治疗方法包括最大限度的安全手术切除、放疗、全脑脊髓照射和辅助化疗。然而,它只能通过严重的副作用和复发来有限地延长生存时间。确定肿瘤内异质性、细胞起源,并鉴定肿瘤微环境内的相互作用网络有助于理解髓母细胞瘤发生和复发的机制。由于技术限制,细胞异质性和肿瘤起源的机制尚未完全理解。最近,单细胞技术的出现为实现理解肿瘤发生机制的目标提供了强大的工具。几项研究利用单细胞 RNA-seq 技术,展示了每种髓母细胞瘤亚型的肿瘤内异质性和肿瘤起源,这是以前使用常规技术无法揭示的。在这篇综述中,我们概述了目前对髓母细胞瘤细胞异质性和肿瘤起源的理解进展,并讨论了单细胞技术时代的新发现。