About Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumour currently recognised within medical literature, but to this day has no cure (1.TedxTalks, 2016). This presents many questions as to why treatments have not resulted in a successful prognosis. Before understanding the process and function of this tumour, we must first consider the etymology. 

The first medical description of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) was documented by Hippocrates; however, it was Harvey Williams Cushing, the father of neurosurgery in America and Percival Bailey in the 1920s who identified this as a distinct tumour from other glioma tumours (Brem, S. and Abdullah, K. 2017). Glioma tumours form from glial cells that are responsible for supporting the brain and spinal cord (Cancer Research UK. d,u).  

There have been many treatments discovered for GBM, however they have only prolonged the life expectancy that is now only 12 to 18 months (Houston Methodist, 2019). Unlike the majority of brain tumours, Glioblastoma grows differently than any other tumour inside the body. The majority of tumours form at an epicentre, then slowly increase in scale (1.TedxTalks, 2016). GBM starts in the astrocyte cells and spread through white matter pathways within the brain (1.TedxTalks, 2016). Through the process of angiogenesis, blood vessels deliver oxygen to the tumour, which further increases its spread (Grisham, J. 2014). Other components that attests to the tumours’ relentlessness, is its inability to die like normal cells (2.TedxTalks, 2016). The tumours’ migratory mechanisms and multifocal ability means that they can occur in multiple places within the brain and spread so insidiously that they cannot be easily detected (1.TedxTalks, 2016). 

The complex tumour environment, indicates the lack of awareness that we have and the constant battle to find a treatment. Within recent research, scientists and neurologists have been experimenting with the concept of immunotherapy, that aims to reprogram the immune system in order to identify the tumour as a foreign entity and subsequently attack the cancer cells (Penn Medicine. 2018). 

Although the immunotherapy route seems very beneficial, we still have a way to go in preventing further resurgence of Glioblastoma in recovering patients.