Current State-of-the-Art Animal Models of Pediatric Brain Tumors

Brain tumors are unfortunately the most common types of solid tumors in the pediatric population, superseded only by leukemias, and largely bode a poor prognosis. Despite advances in our ability to diagnose and treat pediatric brain tumors, there remains a large unmet need to develop novel therapies to improve patient outcomes. The recent understanding of the molecular drivers of oncogenesis for many of these tumors has led to the engineering of preclinical small animal models which serve as valuable tools for scientists to study the mechanisms of tumor biology, to understand interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and allow for translatable novel therapeutic discovery. This review focuses on the state-of-the art development of preclinical models of two difficult-to-treat pediatric brain tumors: (1) diffuse midline gliomas, the most lethal form of pediatric brain cancer; (2) medulloblastoma, the most common embryonal tumor of the central nervous system. We will then round off this review with a discussion on the emerging use of multi-omics and AI approaches to complement the testing of novel therapies using these in vivo animal models.