Targeted therapies on the horizon for malignant glioma

Excerpt

Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults. Only grade I glioma occurring exclusively in children can be cured by surgery only, while grade II, grade III and grade IV glioma occurring in adults are diffusely infiltrative diseases that invariably recur despite the most radical surgery. Malignant glioma (grade III, anaplastic astrocytoma and grade IV, glioblastoma, GBM) may arise from a prior lower grade lesion as a result from sequential accumulation of genetic aberrations and deregulated signaling pathways (Fig. 1) [1]. Most aggressive gliomas, however will present as a rapidly growing and debilitating disease de novo. Although indistinguishable by histopathology, these tumors will differ on a molecular level. Better insights into glioma genesis, identification of aberrant pathways, mutations and identification of characteristic molecular defects of certain glioma subtypes have given rise to expectations that molecularly driven therapy may also improve outcome of patients suffering from glioma.

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