Anti-cancer Therapies in High Grade Gliomas

Cristiana   Pistol   Tanase; Ana-Maria      Enciu; Simona      Mihai; Ana   Iulia   Neagu; Bogdan      Calenic; Maria   Linda   Cruceru

doi:10.2174/1570164611310030007

Abstract

High grade gliomas represent one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant types of human cancer, with only 1–2 years median survival rate for patients with grade IV glioma. The treatment of glioblastoma is a considerable therapeutic challenge; combination therapy targeting multiple pathways is becoming a fast growing area of research. This review offers an up-to-date perspective of the literature about current molecular therapy targets in high grade glioma, that include angiogenic signals, tyrosine kinase receptors, nodal signaling proteins and cancer stem cells related approaches. Simultaneous identification of proteomic signatures could provide biomarker panels for diagnostic and personalized treatment of different subsets of glioblastoma. Personalized medicine is starting to gain importance in clinical care, already having recorded a series of successes in several types of cancer; nonetheless, in brain tumors it is still at an early stage.

Keywords: Antiangiogenic therapy, cancer stem cells, glioma, microRNA, personalized medicine, PI-3K.

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