Targeting Glioblastoma Stem Cells: A Review on Biomarkers, Signal Pathways and Targeted Therapy
Glioblastoma (GBM) remains the most lethal and common primary brain tumor, even after treatment with multiple therapies, such as surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation. Although great advances in medical development and improvements in therapeutic methods of GBM have led to a certain extens...
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| Published in: | Frontiers in oncology Vol. 11; p. 701291 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A
08-07-2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Glioblastoma (GBM) remains the most lethal and common primary brain tumor, even after treatment with multiple therapies, such as surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation. Although great advances in medical development and improvements in therapeutic methods of GBM have led to a certain extension of the median survival time of patients, prognosis remains poor. The primary cause of its dismal outcomes is the high rate of tumor recurrence, which is closely related to its resistance to standard therapies. During the last decade, glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) have been successfully isolated from GBM, and it has been demonstrated that these cells are likely to play an indispensable role in the formation, maintenance, and recurrence of GBM tumors, indicating that GSCs are a crucial target for treatment. Herein, we summarize the current knowledge regarding GSCs, their related signaling pathways, resistance mechanisms, crosstalk linking mechanisms, and microenvironment or niche. Subsequently, we present a framework of targeted therapy for GSCs based on direct strategies, including blockade of the pathways necessary to overcome resistance or prevent their function, promotion of GSC differentiation, virotherapy, and indirect strategies, including targeting the perivascular, hypoxic, and immune niches of the GSCs. In summary, targeting GSCs provides a tremendous opportunity for revolutionary approaches to improve the prognosis and therapy of GBM, despite a variety of challenges. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 Reviewed by: Bernard Rogister, University of Liège, Belgium; Braden C McFarland, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States This article was submitted to Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics, a section of the journal Frontiers in Oncology These authors have contributed equally to this work Edited by: Zhi Sheng, Virginia Tech, United States |
| ISSN: | 2234-943X 2234-943X |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fonc.2021.701291 |