Page 140 - MI-2-4

Microbes & Immunity

MINI-REVIEW
Navigating glioblastoma therapy: A narrative

review of emerging immunotherapeutics and
small-molecule inhibitors

1,3
1
Matthew A. Abikenari * , Iman Enayati , Daniel M. Fountain ,
2
and Maria Isabel Leite 1
1 Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals,
NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom
2 UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United
States of America
3 Department of Medicine, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital,
Oxford, United Kingdom

Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant primary tumor of
the central nervous system (CNS), accounting for the majority of brain tissue tumors
and CNS neoplasms. GBM has an incidence rate of 3.2/100,000 people in the United
States, with an abysmal survival rate of 15 months with treatment and under 3 months
for untreated patients. GBM remains incurable, with no disease-modifying treatment
*Corresponding author: available. As a grade IV astrocytoma, GBM is highly aggressive, characterized by
Matthew A. Abikenari
(mattabi@stanford.edu) rapid proliferation, high metabolic demands, substantial angiogenesis, and diffuse
infiltration of healthy parenchyma. The GBM genome is highly heterogeneous, with
Citation: Abikenari MA,
Enayati I, Fountain DM, Leite MI. unpredictable amplification patterns, dysregulation, and mutational activation of
Navigating glioblastoma receptor tyrosine kinase genes, tumor suppressor genes, and growth factor signaling.
therapy: A narrative review of GBM’s indistinct tumor margins, its highly adaptive interaction with the brain
emerging immunotherapeutics and microenvironment, and the existence of the blood-brain barrier and the blood-
small-molecule inhibitors. Microbes &
Immunity. 2025;2(4):132-143. brain tumor barrier further limit effective anti-GBM therapeutic strategies. Hence,
doi: 10.36922/mi.5075 anti-GBM drug discoveries and molecular techniques that aim for patient-specific
Received: October 08, 2024 treatment stratification are of profound clinical and therapeutic significance. The
current paper aims to outline the fundamental pathophysiology, tumorigenicity,
Revised: November 22, 2024
and immunosuppressive mechanism of GBMs, review current treatment options for
Accepted: December 9, 2024 GBMs, and examine the contemporary challenges and advances in anti-GBM drug
Published online: December 30, discovery and delivery. Finally, the paper aims to shed light on the emergence of
2024 small-molecule inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and vaccination therapy as
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). potentially efficacious therapeutic strategies for treating GBM.
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Glioblastoma multiforme; Immunotherapy; Checkpoint inhibitors; Anti-GBM
License, permitting distribution, and therapeutic strategies; Immunosuppressive mechanism; Small-molecule inhibitors
reproduction in any medium, which
provided that the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary tumor of the central
affiliations. nervous system (CNS), accounting for roughly 50% of all brain tissue tumors and 16%

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2025) 132 doi: 10.36922/mi.5075