Medullomyoblastoma: a histological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and molecular genetic study

Medullomyoblastoma is a rare variant of medulloblastoma containing myoblastic elements. A 9-year-old boy developed a cerebellar syndrome and signs of increased intracranial pressure, the cause of which was a tumor of the cerebellar vermis measuring 7 x 4.5 x 4.5 cm. Morphologically the tumor largely consisted of a medulloblastoma component but displayed glial, myoblastic and ganglionic differentiation on light microscopic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural examination. The non-enhancing rim of the tumor on magnetic resonance imaging showed extensive ganglionic differentiation. The tumor did not express bcl-2, c-myc, or c-erb-B2 oncoproteins and was negative for the p53 gene product. On molecular genetic studies, the tumor did not show allelic loss on chromosome loci, frequently altered in medulloblastomas, such as 17p, 1q and 9q.