Abstract
Current first-line treatment regimens combine surgical resection and chemoradiation
for Glioblastoma that provides a slight increase in overall survival. Age on its own
should not be used as an exclusion criterion of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treatment,
but performance should be factored heavily into the decision-making process for treatment
planning. Despite aggressive initial treatment, most patients develop recurrent diseases
which can be treated with re-resection, systemic treatment with targeted agents or
cytotoxic chemotherapy, reirradiation, or radiosurgery. Research into novel therapies
is investigating alternative temozolomide regimens, convection-enhanced delivery,
immunotherapy, gene therapy, antiangiogenic agents, poly ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors,
or cancer stem cell signaling pathways. Given the aggressive and resilient nature
of GBM, continued efforts to better understand GBM pathophysiology are required to
discover novel targets for future therapy.
Key words
Chemotherapy - glioblastoma multiforme - glioma - targeted therapy - temozolomide
