Comparison of clinical and molecular wnt and shh subgroups in medulloblastoma tumor cases

Aim Medulloblastoma is the most widely seen malign brain tumor in childhood. In addition to surgery, treatment for this tumor involves radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, there is no specific chemotherapy for medulloblastomas. Recent studies have showed that medulloblastoma cases have varying properties due to different subgroups in the molecular level. These subgroups are divided into the Wnt, SHH, group 3, and group 4 and are associated with different prognosis for different patients. Generally, these group distinctions based on the biological subtypes of medulloblastomas can be made clinically. It is thought that clinically determined subgroups can be important for molecular identification and support, to differentiate patient groups, and to determine the treatment protocols from this respect. The rates of subgroups of medulloblastomas in the gene expression level of the Turkish population are unknown. In this study, we aimed to determine the Wnt and SHH subtypes at the molecular level and to compare them clinically by examining the changes in CTNNB1, AXIN, PTCH1, SMO, SUFU, and GLI1 mRNA expression in the medulloblastoma of a Turkish population determined according to patient selection criteria. In this context, the clinical distinction between Wnt and SHH groups are realized by considering the age, gender, survival time, location of the lesion, and radiological features of the patients. Material and methods Molecular separation was performed by RT-PCR analysis of CTNNB1, AXIN, PTCH1, SMO, SUFU, and GLI1 mRNA expression changes. Results About 17.8% and 22.2% of the cases were included in the Wnt and the SHH group, respectively. When comparing group differences based on clinical and molecular data, 72.7% and 66.6% of matches were observed in the Wnt and the SHH group, respectively. Conclusion It has been revealed that molecular analysis and grouping of patients with medulloblastoma can provide support for clinically determined subgroups.