Research and Ideas for Current Methods and Possible Solutions in Outline

Hey guys, here are some of the things I came up with from my research of the literature.

Current Methods
Currently, patients who suffer from Glioblastoma multiforme are treated surgically. But even after the brain tumor is physically removed, the mean survival time of the patient is very short (about one year) due to the cancer cells’ ability to rapidly invade the surrounding brain tissue following excision. In the past, various forms of “combination therapy” have been used in an attempt to extend the life expectancy of these patients. This includes combining surgical treatment with chemotherapy following the removal of the tumor. But even then, the mean survival of the patients is on average only increased from a year to about 19 months. In other cases, some patients who qualify actually undergo repeat surgeries to remove the cancer cells that have grown in the surrounding brain tissue. However, the mean survival time of patients who undergo this treatment is increased to only about 15 months following the initial operation.

New forms of treatment following surgery are needed to address the aggressive nature of Glioblastoma multiforme.


Possible Solutions
It may be possible to discourage cancer cells from migrating into the surrounding brain tissue after surgery with the placement of an implant into the empty cavity following excision of the tumor. Past studies have shown that the process of invasion of gliomas involves their secretion of various proteolytic enzymes that digest the ECM of the brain. These proteases also play a role in maintaining the microenvironment necessary for survival of the cancer cells in the brain. Furthermore, various compounds that have been found in the surrounding matrix of glioma cells include glycosaminoglycans, fibronectin, and vitronectin. Since the ECM of the brain has been found to consist largely of type-IV and type-V collagens, it may be possible to synthesize a collagen gel seeded with the compounds necessary for cancer cell migration and survival to induce the tumor to grow inward into the empty cavity rather than into the surrounding brain tissue following surgery (Of course, this might have the opposite affect of simply increasing the overall rate of tumor growth in all directions, in which case this isn’t a very good idea at all. I’ll have to do more research to find out what induces these cancer cells to migrate and in which direction. Another approach might involve finding ways to inhibit protease secretion). The density of the gel can be tailored to match that of the brains ECM.

Define Improvement
Improvement can be measured in terms of the mean survival time following surgery.