Glioblastoma

Using an innovative algorithm that analyzes gene regulatory and signaling networks, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have found that loss of a gene called KLHL9 is the driving force behind the most aggressive form of glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer. The CUMC team demonstrated in mice transplants that these tumors can be suppressed by reintroducing KLHL9 protein, offering a possible strategy for treating this lethal disease. The study was published today in the online issue of Cell.

After her diagnosis, Brittany decided that she wanted to move from her California home to Oregon so that she could have access to the “death with dignity” prescription. She plans to die in her home surrounded by her mother, stepfather, husband and best friend.

But, now, in an amazing letter, a woman with a similiar diagnosies has written a touching letter in response.

Thousands of people today have various kinds of stimulators placed deep in their brains in the hope of curing their ills. Many others require systems of tubes, catheters, and shunts penetrating deep into their brain ventricles to deliver chemotherapy, analgesics, or to drain overpressurized cerebral liquids.

Next month Brittany Maynard will end her own life – but not before fighting for the right for others to do the same

Object Maximal safe tumor resection is part of the standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The role of reoperation in the care of patients with recurrent glioblastoma is less clear, and less than a quarter of patients undergo a second surgery. Previous studies have identified preoperative variables associated with the improved survival of patients following reoperation, and guidelines for the selection of patients for reoperation have been devised and validated.

The Breaking Bad star heard about his biggest fan's request to meet him after an online campaign took off. BuzzFeed News spoke to the fan to hear his story.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal primary brain tumors, with median survival for these patients only slightly over one year. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with researchers from the City of Hope, are looking toward novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of GBM in the form of targeted therapies against a unique receptor, the interleukin-13 receptor α chain variant 2 (IL13Rα2).

Researchers have found one key as to why certain glioblastomas are resistant to drug therapy, and the answer lies in a tumors epigenetic signature.

Hematology Oncology | CytRx Corp. announced that the FDA granted multiple orphan drug designation to aldoxorubicin for the treatment of patients with glioblastoma multiforme, small cell lung cancer and ovarian cancer.Aldoxorubicin is a modified version of the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin, combined with a novel single-molecule linker that binds directly and specifically to circulating albumin. 

This is a free case-based activity that includes discussion of a 20 year old male patient with a glioblastoma, presenting with his first relapse after radiation therapy. Along with the patient case, there is a discussion board on ASCO Connection, where users can post comments/questions to each other and to the faculty.

Moderate radiation therapy dose escalation above 60 Gy with concurrent TMZ does not seem to improve clinical outcomes for patients with GBM.

In comparison to normal brain tissue, glioblastomas exhibit significantly increased glucose uptake. Brain edema is a common complication during adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, leading to a requirement for glucocorticoid treatment. Glucocorticoid treatment frequently causes considerable deregulation of blood glucose levels. Therefore, episodes of hyperglycemia may contribute to radio- and/or chemoresistance.

The authors report the current epidemiology of GBM with new data from the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States 2006 to 2010 as well as demonstrate and discuss trends in incidence and survival. They also provide a concise review on molecular markers in GBM that have helped distinguish biologically similar subtypes of GBM and have prognostic and predictive value.

Jack L. Leonard, PhD, received a $250,000 grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels and Worcester-area Hyundai dealers to explore a tumor suppressing pathway that arrests growth and initiates programmed cell death in glioblastoma tumor cells.

Progress in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) over the last few decades has remained marginal and GBM is still universally fatal with short survival times after initial diagnosis. Much research is focused on finding new therapeutics for GBM and immune based approaches have shown great promise. The detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens in malignant cells has suggested that treatment strategies based on immunological intervention, such as adoptive transfer of antiviral T cells or vaccination with viral epitopes, could be exploited as cancer therapy. 

The authors aim to investigate the effect of immunotherapy advances for glioblastoma. They conclude that the potential of complementary combinatorial immunotherapeutic regimens is highly exciting and warrants expedited investigation.

Anti-angiogenic therapy for glioblastoma has been in the spotlight for several years, as researchers and clinicians strive to find agents with meaningful efficacy against glioblastoma. Bevacizumab in particular, in the second half of the last decade, became the most significant breakthrough in anti-glioblastoma therapy since temozolomide.

In the setting of primary malignant brain tumors, first-line chemotherapy is often accompanied by lymphopenic immunologic deficiency. Although perhaps counterintuitive, chemotherapy-induced lymphopenia can provide excellent host conditioning that may actually be leveraged to potentiate and enhance antitumor immunotherapy. We discuss here our preclinical and clinical experiences with immunotherapy for glioblastoma, the most common and lethal primary malignant brain tumor, as well as the use of im

Glioblastoma is a tumor that forms from supportive tissue of the brain and spinal cord. Learn about glioblastoma and find information on how we support and care for adults with glioblastoma before, during, and after treatment.

This review discusses some of the principal genetic and epigenetic aberrations found in GBM that appear promising for targeted therapies now and in the near future, and it offers suggestions for future directions concerning the rather disappointing results of clinical trials to date.

The unknown of an aggressive and horrible disease...... We see certain issues that are present, but with no definitive timeline, everyday seems like I'm holding my breathe indefinitely, always ready for the unknown....but then the next day everything is ok. Just to wonder if he is really sick at all....this disease really runs a person through the mud.

Olaptesed pegol is a PEGylated mirror-image (L-) oligonucleotide that binds and neutralizes the chemokine CXCL12/SDF-1, preventing interaction with its receptors CXCR4 & CXCR7. The CXCL12/CXCR4/CXCR7 pathway directly affects tumor progression by controlling cancer cell survival, proliferation and migration, and also has indirect effects through angiogenesis and recruitment of immune cells.

U-M doctors have started testing a unique new approach to fighting brain tumors -- one that delivers a one-two punch designed to knock out the most dangerous brain cancer.