title: Therapeutic strategies targeting glioblastoma stem cells.
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.
authors.affiliation: Neurooncology group, Biodonostia Institute, Paseo Dr. Beguiristain s/n, E-20014 San Sebastian, Spain.
authors.forename: Estefania
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carrasco-Garcia
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sampron
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aldaz
authors.forename: Olatz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arrizabalaga
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villanua
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barrena
authors.forename: Irune
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arrazola
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lawrie
authors.forename: Ander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matheu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015195:Drug Design; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D050130:Oncolytic Virotherapy; D010330:Patents as Topic; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents