Table 1.
Basic characteristics of included studies.
| Author YOP Tumor of Interest |
Study Design Number of Patients Included in Review |
Age (Years) Gender (M: Male, F: Female) |
Exact Location of Posterior Fossa Tumor | Therapeutic Approach Related to ALK Other Therapeutic Approaches Not Related to ALK |
ALK Analysis Method with Molecular Targets |
ALK Type of Pathology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrendsen et al. 2022 [52] ALCL |
Case Series 1 |
37 M |
Infratentorial Compartments (including cerebellum) | - Surgery, Intrathecal Methotrexate |
IHC, sequencing (447 gene exons, 191 introns across 60 genes) |
ALK-positive, no genetic alterations detected |
| Geetha et al. 2014 [53] ALCL |
Case Report 1 |
19 M |
Right Cerebellar Hemisphere | - Surgery, Chemotherapy |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Havlioglu et al. 1995 [54] ALCL |
Case Report 1 |
4.5 F |
Multifocal brain, Brainstem, Spinal Cord | - Chemotherapy, Radiation |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Menon et al. 2015 [55] ALCL |
Case Series 1 |
43 Μ |
Multiple meningeal lesions (Right Cerebellum, Medulla involvement) | - NA |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Rudresha et al. 2017 [56] ALCL |
Case Series 1 |
NA NA |
Cerebellum | - High-dose methotrexate, Radiation |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Strosberg et al. 2021 [57] ALCL |
Case Report 1 |
29 F |
Brainstem | - Chemotherapy, Methotrexate |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Hojo et al. 2023 [58] IMMT |
Case Report 1 |
10 F |
Left Cerebellar Hemisphere | - Surgery |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Kambe et al. 2021 [59] IMMT |
Case Report 1 |
65 F |
Right Cerebellar Hemisphere | - Surgery |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Kemps et al. 2022 [60] Histiocytosis |
Case Series 4 |
0.75, 2.5, 3, 7 F (n = 3) M (n = 1) |
Cerebellum (n = 2) Medulla (n = 2) |
Alectinib (n = 1) Chemotherapy (n = 2) Corticosteroids, Surgery (n = 1) NA (n = 1) |
IHC, FISH, sequencing | ALK-positive IHC (n = 4) ALK-FISH positive (n = 1) KIF5B–ALK fusion (n = 3) |
| Lucas et al. 2019 [61] Histiocytosis |
Case Report 1 |
7 F |
Cerebellar Vermis | - Surgery |
IHC, sequencing (Sequencing: RNA assay targeting 53 genes) |
KIF5B–ALK fusion |
| Swain et al. 2008 [62] IMT |
Case Report 1 |
30 M |
Cerebellum | - Radiation, Surgery |
IHC, FISH (FISH: ALK rearrangement in 4% of tumor cells) |
ALK negative IHC ALK-FISH positive |
| Coco et al. 2012 [63] MB |
Case Series 4 |
Pediatric NA |
Cerebellum | - - |
PCR, sequencing a. Sequencing for ALK exons 20–28 b. Quantitative PCR for mRNA expression |
ALK mutation 3605delG in exon 23 of ALK gene (n = 1) ALK mRNA overexpression (n = 3) |
| Łastowska et al. 2017 [35] MB WNT (n = 19) SHH (n = 2) Type 3 (n = 1) Type 4 (n = 1) Not classified (n = 2) |
Case Series 25 |
<1–14 F (n = 13) M (n = 12) |
Cerebellopontine Angle (n = 3) Cerebellar Hemisphere (n = 1) Cerebellar Midline (n = 21) |
- - |
IHC, sequencing | All cases: ALK-positive Additional methods: NanoString, CTNNB1 mutation (n = 9) NanoString (n = 9) CTNNB1 mutation, monosomy 6 (n = 1) Nuclear b-catenin, monosomy 6 (n = 2) MAGIC MB128 (n = 2) GAB1+, YAP1+ (n = 1) |
| Łastowska et al. 2019 [64] MB |
Case Series 7 |
3–16 F (n = 4) M (n = 2) NA (n = 1) |
Cerebellopontine Angle (n = 2) Cerebellar Midline (n = 4) NA (n = 1) |
- - |
IHC, DNA (next generation, Sanger) sequencing | ALK-positive (n = 7) APC variant detected (n = 1) |
| Trubicka et al. 2016 [65] MB |
Case Report 1 |
10 M |
Posterior Fossa Midline | - Surgery |
IHC | ALK-positive |
| Yan et al. 2016 [34] MB WNT (n = 1) SHH (n = 1) Mixed − WNT/SHH (n = 1) |
Case Series 3 |
1.8, 5.5, 12.8 F (n = 2) M (n = 1) |
Posterior Fossa - 4th Ventricle (n = 2) Right Cerebellar Hemisphere (n = 1) |
- Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy (n = 2) Surgery alone (n = 1) |
IHC, DNA sequencing, FISH (DNA sequencing: ALK exons 23, 25 FISH: >15% of cells having split signals) |
ALK-positive ALK-FISH negative |
Abbreviations: YOP—year of publication; ALK—Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase; ALCL—anaplastic large-cell lymphoma; IHC—immunohistochemistry; NA—not available; IMMT—intracranial myxoid mesenchymal tumor; FISH—fluorescence in situ hybridization; MB—medulloblastoma; PCR—polymerase chain reaction; WNT—wingless-related integration site; SHH—sonic hedgehog; GAB1—GRB2-associated-binding protein 1; YAP1—yes-associated protein 1; APC—adenomatous polyposis coli.