Understanding glioblastoma tumor biology: the potential to improve current diagnosis and treatments

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly malignant brain cancer characterized by uncontrolled cellular proliferation, diffuse infiltration, a tendency for necrosis, significant angiogenesis, intense resistance to apoptosis, and widespread genomic aberrations. Prognosis is poor and treatments are largely palliative, although there are subsets of patients that have prolonged survival. Greater understanding of the tumor biology of GBM has been achieved in the past decade, leading to the prospect of novel targeted therapies and biomarker-based individualization of therapy. The goal of this review is to describe the tumor biology and pathologic features of GBM, guidelines for classification and diagnosis, the current status of prognostic and predictive biomarkers, and the role of the blood-brain barrier in delivering therapy for GBM.