Title:Therapeutic Strategies Targeting Glioblastoma Stem Cells
Volume: 8
Issue: 3
Author(s): Estefania Carrasco-Garcia, Nicolas Sampron, Paula Aldaz, Olatz Arrizabalaga, Jorge Villanua, Cristina Barrena, Irune Ruiz, Mariano Arrazola, Charles Lawrie and Ander Matheu
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Glioblastoma, glioblastoma stem cells, molecular target, therapy.
Abstract: Glioblastoma is the most common, aggressive and lethal brain tumor in adults. However, current therapeutic
protocols have low success rates and average overall survival is less than 15 months. The resistance to therapy is largely a
result of the remarkable cellular and phenotypical heterogeneity that characterizes this type of tumor. The discovery of a
subpopulation of cells exhibiting stem cell properties within the tumor bulk has profound implications for therapy as
increasing evidence indicates that these cells, glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), are responsible for the origin, maintenance
and recurrence of the glioblastomas. These findings highlight the need to characterize GSCs in order to find novel treatments
directly targeted specifically against them. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding this issue,
including some recent and relevant patents.
