SHH inhibitors for the treatment of medulloblastoma

Abstract

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood. It is currently stratified into four molecular variants through the advances in transcriptional profiling. They include: wingless, sonic hedgehog (SHH), Group III, and Group IV. The SHH group is characterized by constitutive activation of the SHH signaling pathway, and genetically characterized by mutations in patched homolog 1 (PTCH1) or other downstream pathway mutations. SHH inhibitors have become of great clinical interest in treating SHH-driven medulloblastoma. Many inhibitors are currently in different stages of development, some already approved for other SHH-driven cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma. In vitro and in vivo medulloblastoma studies have shown efficacy and these findings have been translated into Phase I and II clinical trials. In this review, we present an overview of SHH medulloblastoma, as well as a discussion of currently available SHH inhibitors, and the challenges associated with their use.

Keywords: basal cell carcinoma; gorlin syndrome; medulloblastoma; smoothened; sonic hedghog; vismodegib.