Embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes: Post-treatment maturation and implications for future therapy

Background: Embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes (ETMR) is a deadly grade IV pediatric brain tumor. Despite an intensive multimodal treatment approach that includes surgical resection, high-dose chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, the progression-free survival at 5 years is less than 30%.

Case: We report a case of long-term survival in a 5-month old female with a large mass in the posterior fossa, diagnosed as ETMR, which subsequently underwent treatment-induced maturation. Prior to chemotherapy, histopathology revealed an abundance of highly proliferative, undifferentiated cells and multilayered rosette structures. Conversely, post-treatment histopathology revealed cell populations that differentiated into neuronal and ganglionic phenotypes. At 5-year follow-up, the patient remains progression-free.

Conclusion: This finding contributes to the few reports to date of post-treatment differentiation/maturation of ETMR cell populations, with an implication for less cytotoxic therapeutic interventions aimed at differentiation.