Animal Models in Glioblastoma: Use in Biology and Developing Therapeutic Strategies

Abstract

The gliomas are a large group of brain tumors and Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary central nervous system tumor in adults. Despite the recent advances in treatment modalities, GBM patients generally respond poorly to all therapeutic approaches and prognosis remain dismal. Gaining insights into the pathways that determine this poor treatment response and the generation of more relevant animal models that recapitulate a patient’s tumor will be instrumental for the elaboration of new therapeutic modalities. Here we will focus on the available animal models for adult GBM and their use in preclinical drug development. We will be examining the recent advances in genetically engineered mouse models and discuss how such models may offer specific advantages over cell culture and xenograft systems for validating drug targets and prioritizing candidates for clinical trials. Lastly we will briefly examine the clinical relevance in glioma research of other animal models such as fruit fly, zebrafish and canine.