Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

The Role of DNA Methylation in Directing Treatment in Medulloblastoma

Lookup NU author(s): MOHAMMED ALSAEDI, Dr Gordon StrathdeeORCiD

Downloads


Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant childhood brain tumour. The disease exhibits significant clinical and molecular heterogeneity which leads to significant differences in outcome. Although survival rates have improved in recent years, outcome for patients with high risk disease remains poor and survival is associated with significant treatment associated morbidity. Traditional risk stratification was established largely on the basis of clinical and histological factors, but these are not sufficient to capture the full biologic complexity of the disease. Recent advances have underscored the role of DNA methylation as a powerful epigenetic biomarker for precise subgroup stratification and prognostic classification of medulloblastoma into four primary molecular subtypes: WNT, SHH, Group 3, and Group 4. This review summarises mechanisms of DNA methylation in cancer biology, methylation profiling analytical approaches, and their application in delineating medulloblastoma subtypes. Specific attention is placed on the clinical utility of methylation-based classifiers for guiding therapeutic decisions and clinical trial design.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Alsaedi MAH, Strathdee G

Publication type: Review

Publication status: Published

Journal: Epigenomics

Year: 2025

Volume: 17

Issue: 16

Pages: 1189-1199

Online publication date: 04/09/2025

Acceptance date: 26/08/2025

ISSN (electronic): 1750-192X

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/17501911.2025.2554570

DOI: 10.1080/17501911.2025.2554570

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/27qs-x212


Share