1. Nicole Colón
Seminar Reflections
According to Sang Kyun Lim et al. (2011) in their article,”Glioblastoma multiform: a
perspective on recent findings in human cancer and mouse models”, gliomas are the most
frequently occurring primary malignances in the central nervous system. Gioblastoma multiform
tumors contain a subpopulation of tumors cells that displays stem cell characteristics and could
be responsible for “in vivo” tumor growth. In other words, these tumors act as stem cells;
developing into different kinds of cells and being responsible for tumor growth. Pathways
involved in gliomagenesis include mutations in apoptosis as well as growth factor receptor
signaling. The retinoblastoma and p53 suppressors are frequently mutated in malignant gliomas.
Loss of the p53 tumor suppressor is critical in the transformation and growth of malignant
gliomas.
It have been said that cancer cells share many similarities with stem cells than differentiated cells
because many stem cells live longer than mature cells. Earlier experiments have found that
cancer stems cells do not only self-renew but also that are highly resistant to chemo and
radiotherapies. This is because the radio- and chemo- therapy only killed the cancer cells but the
surviving glioma stem cells regenerate the tumor. This article lets the scientific world know more
about the nature of the glioblastoma multiform, and provides information about the pathways
involved in GBM tumors formation. . This study provides information that would be helpful
for others experiments in cancer, and motivates the scientific world to find new strategies that
target chemo and radio resistant stem cells.