Glioblastoma

Abstract

Glioblastoma, the most malignant and most common form of glioma, is known to portend very poor prognosis with the median overall survival of approximately 1.5 years. Its treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach, which consists of maximal safe resection followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide. Bevacizumab is approved for newly diagnosed as well as recurrent malignant glioma in Japan. NovoTTF is a novel medical device that emits alternating electric fields; it inhibits the proliferation and growth of the tumor by interfering with tumor cell mitosis at anaphase. A photodynamic therapy with talaporfin sodium has been approved for primary malignant brain tumor including glioblastoma in Japan. For epilepsy secondary to glioblastoma, a novel class of antiepileptics such as levetiracetam and lacosamide is preferred given the lack of drug-drug interactions. Perampanel is a selective antagonist of AMPA receptors, the major subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors; it may be a preferred antiepileptics for glioblastoma, given the in vitro and in vivo analyses suggesting that it decreases the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells. In this chapter, I describe the overview of the multidisciplinary treatments of glioblastoma. I also describe the future perspectives.