Identification of Molecular Targets and Anti-cancer Agents in Glioblastoma Multiforme: New Perspectives for Cancer Therapy
A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 February 2023) | Viewed by 18344
Special Issue Editors
Interests: neuroanatomy; neuroscience; neuropeptides; neural stem cells; identification of carcinogenic bi-omarkers; study of molecular mechanisms involved in cancers progression
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: cell differentiation; tissue homeostasis; organ remodeling; organ-on-chip; cell stress; chaperones; heat shock proteins; chaperonopathies; exosomes; glioblastoma
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: central nervous system plasticity; glioblastoma microenvironment; tumor–glia inter-action; blood–brain barrier; peripheral nerve injury
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) or grade IV astrocytoma is the deadliest form of brain tumor. To date, the standard therapy consists of a multimodal approach combining surgery, radiation and chemotherapy with temozolomide. However, tumor relapse frequently occurs, and survival rates are poor in patients. GBM’s poor prognosis is also attributable to therapeutic resistance to standard therapy. The therapeutic resistance is mainly due to the presence of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) inside the tumor core, and could be dependent on innate differences in clonogenic GSCs’ sensitivity to conventional therapy. GSCs and mature cells reside in specific regions of the cancer mass forming tumor niches, including hypoxic, vascular and perivascular niches that support GSCs’ quiescent status and contribute to create a microenvironmental cue sustaining their pluripotent potential which determines cancer aggressiveness and therapy resistance. The resident cells of the central nervous system and blood-derived elements are recruited into the niches for a functional symbiosis that ensures energy sources, invasiveness, immune escape, and drug resistance to the GBM, allowing its progression.
Furthermore, GBM is characterized by intratumor and inter-patient molecular heterogeneity that may underlie differences in patient sensitivity to therapy and prognosis.
Although the research in this field is rapidly evolving, there is a persistent variability of treatment effectiveness and difficulty in performing early diagnosis. The identification of non-invasive alternatives to standard diagnostic approaches, such as liquid biopsy, as well as novel treatment strategies and effective therapeutic targets, could offer new directions for future therapeutic management.
This Special Issue considers original research articles, review articles, and commentaries on the following themes: i) identification of new molecular targeted and/or prognostic biomarkers for GBM; ii) recent advances in combined therapy to existing gold-standard treatment; iii) ongoing clinical trials in the treatment of GBM.
Prof. Dr. Agata Grazia D'Amico
Prof. Dr. Celeste Caruso Bavisotto
Dr. Assunta Virtuoso
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- glioblastoma multiforme
- tumor microenvironment
- hypoxic niches
- vascular niches
- liquid biopsy
- extracellular vesicles
- immunotherapy
- glial cells
- neurons
- macrophages
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