Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a challenging disease, as it is the most common and deadly brain tumour in adults and has no curative solution and an overall short survival time. This incurability and short survival time means that, despite its rarity (average incidence of 3.2 per 100,000 pers...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Pharmaceutics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/3/928 |
| _version_ | 1797609498129465344 |
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| author | Nuno Cruz Manuel Herculano-Carvalho Diogo Roque Cláudia C. Faria Rita Cascão Hugo Alexandre Ferreira Catarina Pinto Reis Nuno Matela |
| author_facet | Nuno Cruz Manuel Herculano-Carvalho Diogo Roque Cláudia C. Faria Rita Cascão Hugo Alexandre Ferreira Catarina Pinto Reis Nuno Matela |
| author_sort | Nuno Cruz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a challenging disease, as it is the most common and deadly brain tumour in adults and has no curative solution and an overall short survival time. This incurability and short survival time means that, despite its rarity (average incidence of 3.2 per 100,000 persons), there has been an increased effort to try to treat this disease. Standard of care in newly diagnosed glioblastoma is maximal tumour resection followed by initial concomitant radiotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ) and then further chemotherapy with TMZ. Imaging techniques are key not only to diagnose the extent of the affected tissue but also for surgery planning and even for intraoperative use. Eligible patients may combine TMZ with tumour treating fields (TTF) therapy, which delivers low-intensity and intermediate-frequency electric fields to arrest tumour growth. Nonetheless, the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and systemic side effects are obstacles to successful chemotherapy in GBM; thus, more targeted, custom therapies such as immunotherapy and nanotechnological drug delivery systems have been undergoing research with varying degrees of success. This review proposes an overview of the pathophysiology, possible treatments, and the most (not all) representative examples of the latest advancements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:02:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-67766109b04d428eab8408aced7ec891 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4923 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:02:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmaceutics |
| spelling | doaj.art-67766109b04d428eab8408aced7ec8912023-11-17T13:16:23ZengMDPI AGPharmaceutics1999-49232023-03-0115392810.3390/pharmaceutics15030928Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as GlioblastomaNuno Cruz0Manuel Herculano-Carvalho1Diogo Roque2Cláudia C. Faria3Rita Cascão4Hugo Alexandre Ferreira5Catarina Pinto Reis6Nuno Matela7Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalGlioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a challenging disease, as it is the most common and deadly brain tumour in adults and has no curative solution and an overall short survival time. This incurability and short survival time means that, despite its rarity (average incidence of 3.2 per 100,000 persons), there has been an increased effort to try to treat this disease. Standard of care in newly diagnosed glioblastoma is maximal tumour resection followed by initial concomitant radiotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ) and then further chemotherapy with TMZ. Imaging techniques are key not only to diagnose the extent of the affected tissue but also for surgery planning and even for intraoperative use. Eligible patients may combine TMZ with tumour treating fields (TTF) therapy, which delivers low-intensity and intermediate-frequency electric fields to arrest tumour growth. Nonetheless, the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and systemic side effects are obstacles to successful chemotherapy in GBM; thus, more targeted, custom therapies such as immunotherapy and nanotechnological drug delivery systems have been undergoing research with varying degrees of success. This review proposes an overview of the pathophysiology, possible treatments, and the most (not all) representative examples of the latest advancements.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/3/928brain tumourglioblastoma multiformetreatmentimagingnanotechnologytumour treating field |
| spellingShingle | Nuno Cruz Manuel Herculano-Carvalho Diogo Roque Cláudia C. Faria Rita Cascão Hugo Alexandre Ferreira Catarina Pinto Reis Nuno Matela Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma Pharmaceutics brain tumour glioblastoma multiforme treatment imaging nanotechnology tumour treating field |
| title | Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma |
| title_full | Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma |
| title_fullStr | Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma |
| title_full_unstemmed | Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma |
| title_short | Highlighted Advances in Therapies for Difficult-To-Treat Brain Tumours Such as Glioblastoma |
| title_sort | highlighted advances in therapies for difficult to treat brain tumours such as glioblastoma |
| topic | brain tumour glioblastoma multiforme treatment imaging nanotechnology tumour treating field |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/3/928 |
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