3

Tissue Engineered Models of Brain Tumors

and Their Applications

Tugba Bal

Üsküdar University, İstanbul, Türkiye

Diverse physiological processes are dictated and contributed by the brain.

Thus, any pathological state such as tumors adversely modifies the brain and

exerts disadvantageous effects throughout the body. Among such tumors, es-

pecially glioblastoma (GBM) is the deadliest due to its aggressiveness, invasive

capacity and late diagnosis which recall advanced bio-technologies to address

these issues. Today, clinics are submerged into a diverse set of GBM diagnosis

and treatment strategies, yet it demands the advancement of current treat-

ment. Tissue engineering can be a powerful tool for researchers and clinicians

in various aspects and scenarios of this disease to decode the nature of this

tumor and prolong patient survival.

3.1

Introduction

Brain tumors are a heterogenous group of diseases mainly classified with

unique histopathology and molecular signatures. In general, different tools

including staining, microscopy, molecular genetics, and profiling have been

fundamental for diagnosis and classification leading to more than 50 sub-

groups of cancer in the central nervous system (CNS). Among brain tumors,

glioblastoma (GBM), a subgroup of adult-type diffuse glioma defined as WHO

grade IV brain tumor [1] will be the focus of the analysis of tissue-engineered

models in this chapter. GBM is the most aggressive brain tumor with 14.6-

month survival and it constitutes 50% of the malignant brain tumors. Surgical

removal, radiation- and chemo-therapy remain the current routes to achieve

better prognosis, yet they require significant improvement for patient survival

[2]. As survival rate is low and new treatment strategies are required, analysis

of tumor environment along with tissue-engineered models for personalized

DOI: 10.1201/9781003461906-3

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