PI3Kinase signaling in glioblastoma

J Neurooncol. 2011 Jul;103(3):417-27. doi: 10.1007/s11060-010-0442-z. Epub 2010 Nov 10.

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary tumor of the CNS in the adult. It is characterized by exponential growth and diffuse invasiveness. Among many different genetic alterations in GBM, e.g., mutations of PTEN, EGFR, p16/p19 and p53 and their impact on aberrant signaling have been thoroughly characterized. A major barrier to develop a common therapeutic strategy is founded on the fact that each tumor has its individual genetic fingerprint. Nonetheless, the PI3K pathway may represent a common therapeutic target to most GBM due to its central position in the signaling cascade affecting proliferation, apoptosis and migration. The read-out of blocking PI3K alone or in combination with other cancer pathways should mainly focus, besides the cytostatic effect, on cell death induction since sublethal damage may induce selection of more malignant clones. Targeting more than one pathway instead of a single agent approach may be more promising to kill GBM cells.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Brain Neoplasms / enzymology*
  • Brain Neoplasms / genetics
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Glioblastoma / drug therapy
  • Glioblastoma / enzymology*
  • Glioblastoma / genetics
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / genetics*
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Signal Transduction / physiology*

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases