Editorial

In 2013, the 22th meeting of experimental Neurooncology again took place in Minden. From April 26^th to 27^th experts in the field of pediatric oncology, neurosurgery, neuropathology, radiotherapy, pharmacology, biology and molecular biology come together to discuss on recent developments in the field of pediatric neurooncology.

Participants from the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg presented their work on new tumor models to explore genetic alterations within different pediatric brain tumor types. New strategies for preclinical testing of brain tumor susceptibility to new antitumor drugs were presented. Recently, the treatment of high grade glioma and of diffuse intrinsic pons glioma by oncolytic viruses has been investigated in adult treatment studies. Little information is available of effects of oncolytic viruses in pediatric brain tumors. Impressive antitumor effects were reported from the group of Leuven (Belgium) and Heidelberg (Germany) using different oncolytic viruses in cell culture, tumor microspheres and animal tumor models suggesting that this treatment modality seems to be a promising strategy for further clinical evaluation. Other central topics of the meeting were the role of differentially expressed histone deacetylases in medulloblastoma, the effect of Smac mimetics on migration and invasion of glioblastoma, the results of the recent cohort of the experimental treatment of recurrent high grade glioma with dendritic cell vaccination in Leuven and experiments on radiation-induced impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis. The key note was given by Guido Reifenberger. The talk focussed on the recent advances and clinical significance of the molecular classification of gliomas. The essential news were that molecular diagnostic testing of gliomas has been arrived in the clinics and that molecular markers as MGMT, 1 p/19q, IDH1/2, H3.3 and BRAF provide important diagnostic, prognostic and predictive information beyond the histology-based WHO classification.

Bernhard Erdlenbruch, Children's Hospital Minden