Circulating tumor stem cells and glioblastoma: A review

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most aggressive primary brain tumor in adults. The aggressive nature of GB has been attributed to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) which drive tumorigenesis and are thought to be the root cause of the disease. Circulating tumor stem cells (CTSCs), which can be derived from CSCs, have been identified in numerous types of cancer including GB, have been proposed to contribute to local and distant recurrence. There are many technical difficulties in studying CTSCs, therefore there is a significant gap in the literature pertaining to how they arise and function, and how the understanding of the biology of CTSCs could elucidate the underlying cause of local recurre..