Glioblastoma (GBM), recognized as the most malignant primary brain tumor among adults, presents extraordinary treatment challenges owing to its rapid growth rate, invasive qualities, and complex genetics. The aggressive nature of GBM facilitates widespread infiltration into surrounding brain tissue, making total surgical removal virtually impossible. Moreover, the blood-brain barrier significantly hampers the efficacy of many therapeutic agents, while tumor cells often exhibit resistance to standard therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation. These factors contribute to poor patient outcomes despite the deployment of multimodal treatments, underscoring the dire need for novel therapeutic strategies.
This Research Topic aims to spotlight cutting-edge advancements in GBM treatment, emphasizing innovative approaches that address the multifaceted challenges posed by the disease. Focusing on epigenetic modifications, immunotherapy enhancements, and the development of novel vaccine and peptide-based treatments, this collection seeks to synthesize contemporary strategies that may provide new hope in combating GBM.
To gather further insights within this complex field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Advanced therapeutic approaches, including immunotherapy (vaccine-based treatments, oncolytic virus therapy, bacterial therapies) and gene and epigenetic therapies (DNA methylation, histone modifications, genetic engineering).
- Peptide-based therapies, metabolic pathway targeting, and advanced nanotechnology for drug delivery.
- Overcoming drug resistance and delivery challenges, including innovative methods to temporarily disrupt the blood-brain barrier
- Exploring tumor complexity, addressing tumor heterogeneity and the microenvironment's role in GBM progression.
- Technological and surgical innovations in GBM treatment, such as AI and machine learning applications, radiomics, imaging biomarkers, and advances in fluorescence-guided surgery.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Keywords: Glioblastoma, blood-brain barrier, immunotherapy, gene therapy, oncolytic virotherapy, nanotechnology, epigenetics, tumor microenvironment, chemoresistance, radiotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, neurosurgery, biomarkers, clinical trials, GBM
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
