Activation of ErbB2- ErbB3 signaling pathway supports potential therapeutic activity of ErbB inhibitors in AT/RT

To the Editor, With interest, we read Fouladi and colleagues’ results from a molecular biology and phase II trial of lapatinib in children with refractory CNS malignancies [1]. We share the authors’ interest in finding new therapeutic options for pediatric CNS tumors that are refractory to treatment. Our focus of interest is atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (AT/ RTs), which are associated with significantly worse overall survival when compared to other pediatric CNS tumors. Here, we would like to share our results obtained through high throughput gene expression (GE) profiling in a series of frozen tumor samples that underwent surgical excision at our institution. Our results suggest that ErbB inhibitors, including lapatinid, could be beneficial to treat AT/RT patients. Because only one AT/RT patient was enrolled in the phase I trial [2] of the above mentioned study, and no AT/RT patient was included in the phase II trial [1], we put