Despite enormous efforts being invested in the development of novel therapies for brain malignancies, there remains a dire need for effective treatments, particularly for pediatric glioblastomas. Their poor prognosis has been attributed to the fact that conventional therapies target tumoral cells, but not glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). GSCs are characterized by self-renewal, tumorigenicity, poor differentiation, and resistance to therapy. These characteristics represent the fundamental tools needed to recapitulate the tumor and result in a relapse. The mechanisms by which GSCs alter metabolic cues and escape elimination by immune cells are discussed in this article, along with potential strategies to harness effector immune cells against GSCs. As cellular immunotherapy is making significant advances in a variety of cancers, leveraging this underexplored reservoir may result in significant improvements in the treatment options for brain malignancies.
Keywords: Brain tumors; Cancer metabolism; Cancer stem cells; Elimination; Equilibrium; Escape; Immunoediting; Immunotherapy; Microglia; Natural killer cells; Resistance; Self-renewal; Surveillance; T cells; Tumorigenicity.
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.