Zebrafish—A Suitable Model for Rapid Translation of Effective Therapies for Pediatric Cancers

Abstract

Pediatric cancers are the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children and adolescents. Most of these tumors are difficult to treat and have poor overall survival. Concerns have also been raised about drug toxicity and long-term detrimental side effects of therapies. In this review, we discuss the advantages and unique attributes of zebrafish as pediatric cancer models and their importance in targeted drug discovery and toxicity assays. We have also placed a special focus on zebrafish models of pediatric brain cancers—the most common and difficult solid tumor to treat.

Keywords

• pediatric cancers
• zebrafish
• brain tumors
• drug toxicity
• targeted therapy
• animal model