Characteristics of Glioblastoma multiforme cancer stem-like cells

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. The standard therapy consists of radical tumor resection, radio- and chemotherapy with Temozolomide (TMZ). However, there is evidence that clinically relevant doses of TMZ can lead to the conversion of differentiated tumor cells to a cancer stem-like cell (CSC) phenotype. Those converted cells show a higher tumorigenicity and might promote the occurrence of a relapse. We confirmed that untreated, non-CSC GBM cells show a significantly lower in vitro tumorigenicity than CSCs cultivated from the same GBM cases. Furthermore, we coul…