Diseases Commons^™

Molecular Characterization Of Glioblastoma Cancer Stem Cells, Jo Meagan Garner

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Malignant gliomas are locally aggressive, highly vascular tumors that have an overall survival time less than 14 months, and current therapies provide little improvement in the disease course and outcome. While glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients present uniform histological phenotypes, the molecular determinants of the disease vary considerably between individual cases resulting in complicated prognosis. The heterogeneity, aggressiveness and rapid tumor relapse of GBM is believed to be sustained by cancer stem-like cell populations that are able to initiate and maintain tumors. Although CSCs represent only a small fraction of cells within a tumor, their high tumor-initiating capacity and therapeutic resistance …