Medulloblastoma is the most frequent malignant brain tumor in childhood, but it may also affect infants, adolescents, and young adults. Recent advances in the understanding of the disease have shed light on molecular and clinical heterogeneity, which is now reflected in the updated WHO classification of brain tumors. At the same time, it is well accepted that preclinical research and clinical trials have to be subgroup-specific. Hence, valid models have to be generated specifically for every medulloblastoma subgroup to properly mimic molecular fingerprints, clinical features, and responsiveness to targeted therapies. This review summarizes the availability of experimental medulloblastoma models with a particular focus on how well these models reflect the actual disease subgroup. We further describe technical advantages and disadvantages of the models and finally point out how some models have successfully been used to introduce new drugs and why some medulloblastoma subgroups are extraordinary difficult to model.

髓母细胞瘤是儿童时期最常见的恶性脑肿瘤，但它也可能影响婴儿，青少年和年轻人。对疾病的了解的最新进展揭示了分子和临床的异质性，这已反映在更新的WHO脑肿瘤分类中。同时，临床前研究和临床试验必须是亚组特异性的已广为接受。因此，必须专门针对每个成神经细胞母细胞瘤亚组生成有效模型，以正确模拟分子指纹，临床特征和对靶向疗法的反应性。这篇综述总结了实验性髓母细胞瘤模型的可用性，特别关注这些模型如何反映实际疾病亚组。