Stratification of infant patients with medulloblastoma: Genomics and biology complement histological classification

Desmoplastic/nodular histology is a favourable prognostic marker in medulloblastoma (MB) of infancy that allows the reduction of therapy to decrease side-effects. In a cohort of 168 infant MB (< 5 years) we analysed the histology, hedgehog pathway activation (immunostaining for YAP-1 and p75-NGFR) and genomic landscape by molecular inversion profiling. Desmoplastic/nodular histology (MB with extensive nodularity (MBEN) and desmoplastic MB (DMB)) showed a high concordance (> 98%) with hedgehog activation. The frequency of chromosomal copy number aberrations was significantly lower in the desmoplastic/nodular subt…