Taylor Lab Medulloblastoma
Brain tumors are the most common solid malignancies and a leading cause of cancer death in children, with medulloblastoma being the most aggressive type. Treatment involves surgery, radiation, high-dose chemotherapy, and autologous bone marrow transplant. Despite five-year survival rates of 60-70%, survivors often suffer severe disabilities, including reduced IQ, neurological and language deficits, endocrine issues, and secondary cancers. Our laboratory is dedicated to developing more targeted and less toxic therapies.
Our Discoveries
Findings in our lab are making a difference to the clinical care and quality of life of patients with brain cancers. Our findings have led to the following paradigm-shifting insights:
Medulloblastoma is a not a single disease
Medulloblastoma is a heterogeneous entity comprised of distinct diseases.
Identification of novel oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes shed light on new therapeutic strategies.
We have described and characterized somatic and germline mutations that are drivers in subgroups of medulloblastoma.
There is clinically significant heterogeneity in metastatic medulloblastomas
Metastatic and recurrent medulloblastoma displays clinically significant heterogeneity relative to untreated primary tumors
Epigenetic features could prove as promising targets for rational therapy for medulloblastoma (and ependymoma)
Non-genetic, epigenetic features that could serve as promising targets for rational therapy.
Group 3 medulloblastoma is a disorder of early brain development
Stem-like cells present in the developing hindbrain give rise to Group 3 medulloblastoma and could be targeted as part of novel preventative therapies
Targeting ‘mets’
A key focus of our current research is on metastases or ‘mets’, which are the main cause of death in patients.
Watch this short animation, which highlights our exciting discovery that medulloblastoma cancer cells can spread through the blood, driven by the protein CCL2.
Help us move the dial on pediatric brain tumors.
