Glioblastoma Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive and fast-growing brain tumor that arises from glial cells. As the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults, it is associated with an extremely poor prognosis. Standard treatment comprises maximal surgical resection in conjunction with radiation and chemotherapy. Even so, clinical outcomes remain poor, and recurrence is common.
Due to its nature as both a highly invasive and vascular tumor, GBM treatment has proven challenging. However, one growth factor that has been implicated in GBM is VEGF-A. For this reason, the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab has increasingly been used as adjuvant therapy for GBM and first-line treatment for recurrent GBM. Although bevacizumab has shown to decrease tumor enhancement intensity and prolong progression-free survival, there is no consensus on its efficacy regarding overall survival among GBM patients. Previous work by our lab has examined the molecular characteristics and pathways of bevacizumab in GBM treatment.
In collaboration with Dr. Madhuri Wadehra, our labs have also found that epithelial membrane protein 2 (EMP2) is upregulated expression in GBM. We demonstrated that EMP2 expression increased following bevacizumab treatment, and this correlated with reduced survival time post-therapy. Currently, we are working on understanding the relationship between EMP2 and GBM.
2021
2020
2017
