Primitive neuroectodermal tumors of the central nervous system express neuroendocrine markers and may express all classes of intermediate filaments

In 1925, Bailey and Cushing described a group of childhood cerebellar tumors comprised of primitive-appearing cells '; they initially thought that those tumors "derived" from glial progenitors, ie, spongioblasts, and named them "spongioblastoma cerebelli".However, Globus and Strauss had concomitantly applied that designation to another tumor type, currently known as glioblastoma multiforme.2Bailey and Cushing therefore adopted a new diagnostic term: "medulloblastoma cerebelli"'; they also abandoned the concept of spongioblastic origin in favor of derivation from a hypothetical, multipotential cell, ie, the medulloblast, which they thought was capable of differentiating into astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and neurons.3Bailey and Cushing attempted to define their neoplastic offspring by the then-prevalent histogenetic approach; accordingly, they suggested that medulloblasts were one of five stem cells populating the primitive neural tube.3This notion was appar