Unravelling the potential of graphene in glioblastoma therapy

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most malignant types of central nervous system tumours. Despite advances in treatment modalities, it remains largely incurable with an extremely poor prognosis. Treatment of GBM is associated with several difficulties such as the risk of damaging healthy brain tissues during surgery, drug resistance and inadequate drug delivery across the blood brain barrier. The new nanomaterial graphene, has recently attracted great attention due to its unique physico-chemical characteristics, good biocompatibility, specific targeting and small size. Starting from simple drug delivery systems, the application of graphene-based nanomaterials has been extended to a versatile platform of multiple therapeutic modalities, including immunotherapy, gene therapy, photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy. Graphene-based materials can also be engineered to integrate multiple functions into a single platform for combination therapy for enhanced anticancer activity and reduced side effects. This review aims to discuss the state-of-the-art applications of graphene-based materials in GBM diagnosis and therapy. In addition, future challenges and prospects regarding this promising field are discussed, which may pave the way towards improving the safety and efficacy of graphene-based therapeutics.

Keywords: Cancer therapy; Diagnosis; Glioblastoma; Graphene; Nanomedicine; Theranostics.