Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma is a fast-growing, very aggressive malignant brain tumor that usually forms in the cerebellum, an organ in the lower back part of the brain. It’s the most common type of malignant brain tumor in children — 20 to 30 percent of pediatric brain tumors are medulloblastomas, and almost two-thirds of medulloblastomas develop in those under age 20. It is less common in adults, but about a third of all medulloblastomas occur in young adults, usually young men.  Medulloblastoma rarely occurs after age 45.

Medulloblastomas are a type of “embryonal tumor,”  meaning that they develop from immature cells left over as the central nervous system develops during pregnancy.  

Medulloblastomas develop near the fourth ventricle, which is filled with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that circulates throughout the brain and spine. This location allows medulloblastomas to spread quickly through the fluid surrounding the brain and spine, but it is relatively rare for them to spread beyond the central nervous system.

Scientific discoveries in recent years have enabled researchers to better understand the diagnosis. Studying the mutations or other genetic changes in medulloblastoma led to the identification of four principal subgroups, enabling more streamlined therapies for medulloblastoma that can be defined by those subgroups rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.

What Causes Medulloblastomas?
Researchers don’t know what causes a medulloblastoma to form — there are no known risk factors, and there is nothing that can be done to prevent them. In rare cases, the tumor can be associated with familial syndromes including Gorlin’s syndrome, Turcot’s syndrome, Li-Fraumeni, and Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome.

Medulloblastoma is a serious diagnosis, but when treated by experts at an advanced medical center the prognosis is good. With treatment, cure rates in the best circumstances reach 70 to 80 percent.  Read more about Doctors Who Treat Medulloblastoma in Children, or request an appointment using our online form.

Request an Appointment | Refer a Patient

Children's Brain Tumor Project The Bronxville Road Race HD

Bronxville Road Race 2014
For those of us who have dedicated our careers to brain tumor research and treatment, this week’s news about the new drug vorasidenib is gratifying indeed. The results (Vorasidenib in IDH1- or IDH2-Mutant Low-Grade Glioma), published in the New...

Our Care Team

  • Vice Chair, Neurological Surgery
  • Director, Pediatric Neurological Surgery
Phone: 212-746-2363
  • Vice Chair for Academic Affairs
  • Professor of Neurological Surgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery
  • Associate Residency Director
Phone: 212-746-2363
  • Victor and Tara Menezes Clinical Scholar in Neuroscience
  • Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery in Pediatrics
Phone: 212-746-2363

Reviewed by: Mark Souweidane, MD

Last reviewed/last updated: April 2022

Illustration by Thom Graves, CMI

Weill Cornell Medicine Neurological Surgery 525 East 68 Street, Box 99 New York, NY 10065 Phone: 866-426-7787