- Pei, Yanxin;
- Liu, Kun-Wei;
- Wang, Jun;
- Garancher, Alexandra;
- Tao, Ran;
- Esparza, Lourdes A;
- Maier, Donna L;
- Udaka, Yoko T;
- Murad, Najiba;
- Morrissy, Sorana;
- Seker-Cin, Huriye;
- Brabetz, Sebastian;
- Qi, Lin;
- Kogiso, Mari;
- Schubert, Simone;
- Olson, James M;
- Cho, Yoon-Jae;
- Li, Xiao-Nan;
- Crawford, John R;
- Levy, Michael L;
- Kool, Marcel;
- Pfister, Stefan M;
- Taylor, Michael D;
- Wechsler-Reya, Robert J
Medulloblastoma (MB) is a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor. Despite aggressive therapy, many patients succumb to the disease, and survivors experience severe side effects from treatment. MYC-driven MB has a particularly poor prognosis and would greatly benefit from more effective therapies. We used an animal model of MYC-driven MB to screen for drugs that decrease viability of tumor cells. Among the most effective compounds were histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs). HDACIs potently inhibit survival of MYC-driven MB cells in vitro, in part by inducing expression of the FOXO1 tumor suppressor gene. HDACIs also synergize with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors to inhibit tumor growth in vivo. These studies identify an effective combination therapy for the most aggressive form of MB.