Pediatric brain tumors currently show the highest incidence among solid childhood malignancies and, together with leukemia, are the leading cause of death from cancer in childhood. Embryonal brain tumors are the most common and frequent type of childhood brain cancer and are usually characterized by an extremely aggressive course of the disease with the worst outcomes in most cases. There is an urgent need for specific refined molecular diagnostics, which would help to develop personalized treatment. In the present review paper, the latest molecular characteristics of various classified forms of embryonal brain tumors were analyzed in detail. Overexpression of the MYC and MYCN genes is characteristic of many embryonal brain tumors, leading to enhanced cell proliferation and disturbances in the cell cycle. The functioning of the SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling complex are distorted in such malignancies as well. Noteworthy, LIN28 and MYC discussed here are involved in the induction of pluripotency. We have to mention that molecular mechanisms underlying the development of embryonal brain tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) are still not well understood. Thus, it is important to uncover such mechanisms with the aim to provide a better prognosis of the course of disease and to create personalized therapy.
Keywords: classification; embryonal brain tumors; molecular features.