The History of Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is a malignant progressive tumor that attacks the tissues that provide sustenance to the brain. Once it is diagnosed, the prognosis is very poor giving patients without treatment less than a year to live and those receiving treatment two years.

Pathology

Glioma was discovered in 1860 by a German doctor named Rudolph Virchow. He did extensive research on the brain and how it works in relation to tumors. He was given the title "Father of Pathology." His years of study led to one of the techniques for performing autopsies that are still used to this day. Despite all of his great accomplishments and discoveries, he was still ridiculed in the field of science for refusing to acknowledge that bacteria was the determinant for infections.

Treatment

Currently the main treatments being used for glioblastoma are surgery and radiation. In cases of progressive tumors associated with glioblastoma both treatments need to be used together.

Since this is such an aggressive cancer with poor prognosis, studies are being done for other methods to try and slow down the pace of growth for these tumors. Research by doctors in the Netherlands have uncovered markers that indicate specific genes responsible for the glioblastoma. Studies revealed that while examining the RNA markers in patients that have glioblastoma, it showed a depiction of the molecular make up of the tumor.

The hopes are that in the future instead of relying on brain scans, the presence of the glioblastoma can be detected by a mere blood test and then treated with the use of gene therapy. Being able to determine if a patient is at risk for developing glioblastoma would allow doctors to be able to treat the tumor more efficiently.