Stem Cells For Treating Glioblastoma: How Close To Reality?

摘要

It is widely acknowledged that the incurable nature of glioblastoma (GBM) is primarily attributable to the infiltrative growth of the cancer. This makes complete surgical resection at best unlikely and necessitates that adjunctive therapies must eradicate all residual tumor cells in the brains of affected patients to prevent tumor recurrence. Moreover, this should ideally be accomplished while causing as little damage to the normal brain as possible. The history of translational research toward this end now spans more than 50 years, with only incremental improvements in extending glioblastoma patients' lives. This slow progress has not been due to a lack of creative approaches for treating GBM. To the contrary, innovative therapeutic approaches have proliferated in recent years. Nonetheless, results from the clinical trials associated with these approaches have proven GBM to be a formidable and therapy-resistant foe. We are currently testing targeted therapies, and it is teaching us about the importance of tailoring therapies to individuals.