A comprehensive review in improving delivery of small-molecule chemotherapeutic agents overcoming the blood-brain/brain tumor barriers for glioblastoma treatment.

ABSTRACT: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor which is highly resistant to conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and cannot be effectively controlled by surgical resection. Due to inevitable recurrence of GBM, it remains essentially incurable with a median overall survival of less than 18 months after diagnosis. A great challenge in current therapies lies in the abrogated delivery of most of the chemotherapeutic agents to the tumor location in the presence of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-brain tumor barrier (BBTB). These protective barriers serve as a selectively permeable hurdle reducing the efficacy of anti-tumor drugs in GBM therapy. This work systematically gives a comprehensive review on: (i) the characteristics of the BBB and the BBTB, (ii) the inf

SUBMITTER: Wang D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6534214 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature