Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibition Sensitizes Group 3 Medulloblastoma to Radiation Therapy

Abstract Group 3 (G3) medulloblastoma constitutes the most aggressive molecular subgroup and nearly all patients present with metastases upon recurrence. Treatment for newly diagnosed medulloblastoma relies on a combination of maximal safe surgical resection followed by chemotherapy and ionizing radiation, and no therapies have been shown to confer a survival benefit at the time of recurrence. Given the limited therapeutic options available for patients with medulloblastoma, especially at recurrence, and the incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying medulloblastoma resistance to treatment, we sought to uncover actionable targets and biomarkers that could help to refine patient selection and treatment of newly diagnosed medulloblastoma to reduce the risk of recurrence. In clinically relevant mouse models of G3 medulloblastoma, CT-guided fractionated radiotherapy extended overall survival and induced the clonal selection of radioresistant subpopulations of tumor cells that drove medulloblastoma recurrence. Comparison of recurrent tumors to treatment naïve newly diagnosed tumors revealed a gene expression signature that was found to be a biomarker of radioresistance and poor prognosis. This prognostic gene signature was shown to be subgroup specific in a large patient cohort. Recurrent tumors had elevated expression of carbonic anhydrase 4 (CA4), and genetic and pharmacological modulation of CA4 could promote or reduce resistance to radiotherapy. These data suggest that the FDA-approved carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide may be a useful radiosensitizer to improve the efficacy of treatment of newly diagnosed G3 medulloblastoma that could reduce the risk of tumor recurrence and improve survival in pediatric patients.