Current Research

Research for medulloblastoma is ongoing. The following advances may still be under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this time. Always discuss all diagnostic and treatment options with your doctor.

Improved methods of imaging and surgery. Imaging techniques have been developed that help surgeons pinpoint the tumor’s location, which may reduce or prevent tissue damage to the healthy parts of the brain during treatment.

• Functional MRI (fMRI) is an imaging technique that identifies the parts of the brain that control speech, hearing, vision, touch, and movement. The specific locations of these functions are slightly different in every individual, so fMRI allows surgeons to plan surgery around these areas.
  
  
• Image-guided stereotaxis allows surgeons to visualize and operate on the brain using three-dimensional outlines of the brain and the tumor. Along with specialized software, these images help guide the surgeon to the tumor. A tumor that was once considered inoperable can now be removed by using this technique.

Improved methods of delivering radiation treatment. Conformal radiation therapy is a way to deliver high doses of radiation therapy more directly to a tumor, avoiding healthy tissue. This technique produces detailed three-dimensional maps of the brain and tumor, so doctors know exactly where to deliver the radiation treatment.

Combination of therapies. Other areas of investigation include studies that examine the safety of reducing the doses of radiation therapy for children with a standard-risk tumor using new chemotherapy approaches. Other studies in infants and older children with a high-risk tumor focus on new drugs and combinations of radiation treatment and chemotherapy in the hope of slowing or stopping tumor growth.