Treatment Modalities for Glioblastoma Multiforme
Summary
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains the most aggressive primary brain tumour in adults, characterised by rapid proliferation, diffuse infiltration and resistance to conventional therapies. Current standard-of-care involves maximal safe surgical resection followed by concurrent radiotherapy and temozolomide chemotherapy. Despite these measures, median survival rarely exceeds 15 months. Research efforts have therefore focused on enhancing drug delivery across the blood–brain barrier (BBB), overcoming intrinsic chemoresistance mechanisms and harnessing immune responses. Advances include novel nanocarrier platforms to improve temozolomide stability and tumour accumulation, immunoadjuvants to reprogramme the tumour microenvironment and epigenetic agents that sensitize resistant cells to alkylating agents. Combinatorial strategies integrating surgical, radiotherapeutic and emerging pharmacological approaches offer the greatest promise for extending patient survival and quality of life.
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Treatment Modalities for Glioblastoma Multiforme publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in treatment modalities for glioblastoma multiforme across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Blood–brain barrier (BBB): A specialised endothelial interface that restricts passage of most substances from the bloodstream into the brain, posing a major obstacle for central nervous system drug delivery.
Nanocarrier: A nanoscale delivery vehicle designed to encapsulate therapeutic agents, improving stability, targeting and controlled release at the tumour site.
Immunoadjuvant: An agent that enhances the body’s immune response to antigens, here employed to boost anti-tumour immunity within the glioblastoma microenvironment.
Temozolomide (TMZ): An oral alkylating chemotherapeutic agent that crosses the BBB and induces DNA methylation leading to tumour cell death.
Apoptosis: Programmed cell death characterised by cell shrinkage, DNA fragmentation and membrane blebbing, essential for removing damaged or malignant cells.
Autophagy: A regulated intracellular degradation process that recycles cellular components and can contribute to cancer cell survival or death depending on context.
References
- Use of surface-modified porous silicon nanoparticles to deliver temozolomide with enhanced pharmacokinetic and therapeutic efficacy for intracranial glioblastoma in mice. Journal of Materials Chemistry B (2024).
- Delivery of Temozolomide and N3-Propargyl Analog to Brain Tumors Using an Apoferritin Nanocage. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2020).
- Immunostimulatory nanoparticles delivering cytokines as a novel cancer nanoadjuvant to empower glioblastoma immunotherapy. Drug Delivery and Translational Research (2023).
- Juglone in Combination with Temozolomide Shows a Promising Epigenetic Therapeutic Effect on the Glioblastoma Cell Line. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
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