Adult medulloblastoma, from spongioblastoma cerebelli to the present day: a review of treatment and the integration of molecular markers.

Although they represent the most common malignant brain tumor in the pediatric population, medulloblastomas are rare in adults, with an incidence of 0.5 per million. With only one exception, all of the prospective clinical trials in this disease have been done in the pediatric population, and therefore therapy for adult medulloblastoma has been either extrapolated from the pediatric literature or based on retrospective reviews. A growing body of literature underscores the genetic similarities between adult and pediatric disease, which may allow tailored therapy directed towards specific molecular pathways and may have an impact on clinical outcomes. Here we present the history, staging system, and treatment of medulloblastoma, reviewing the prognostic value and clinical application of molecular subtyping while highlighting the differences between adult and pediatric disease.