A pivotal clinical trial carried out in the early 1970s showed that among 303 GBM patients randomized to radiation or nonradiation therapy, those who received radiation had a median survival more than double those who did not. Subsequent clinical research has attempted to build on the backbone of surgery followed by radiation. On average, radiotherapy after surgery can reduce the tumor size to 107 cells. Whole-brain radiotherapy does not improve when compared to the more precise and targeted three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. A total radiation dose of 60–65 Gy has been found to be optimal for treatment.GBM tumors are well known to contain zones of tissue exhibiting hypoxia, which are highly resistant to radiotherapy. Various approaches to chemotherapy radiosensitizers have been pursued, with limited success as of 2016. As of 2010, newer research approaches included preclinical and clinical investigations into the use of an oxygen diffusion-enhancing compound such as trans sodium crocetinate as radiosensitizers, and as of 2015 a clinical trial was underway. Boron neutron capture therapy has been tested as an alternative treatment for glioblastoma, but is not in common use. Chemotherapy
Most studies show no benefit from the addition of chemotherapy. However, a large clinical trial of 575 participants randomized to standard radiation versus radiation plus temozolomide chemotherapy showed that the group receiving temozolomide survived a median of 14.6 months as opposed to 12.1 months for the group receiving radiation alone. This treatment regimen is now standard for most cases of glioblastoma where the person is not enrolled in a clinical trial.
The neural subtype was typified by the expression of neuron markers such as NEFL, GABRA1, SYT1, and SLC12A5, while often presenting themselves as normal cells upon pathological assessment.Many other genetic alterations have been described in glioblastoma, and the majority of them are clustered in two pathways, the RB and the PI3K/AKT. Glioblastomas have alterations in 68–78% and 88% of these pathways, respectively.Another important alteration is methylation of MGMT, a "suicide" DNA repair enzyme. Methylation impairs DNA transcription and expression of the MGMT gene. Since the MGMT enzyme can repair only one DNA alkylation due to its suicide repair mechanism, reserve capacity is low and methylation of the MGMT gene promoter greatly affects DNA-repair capacity. MGMT methylation is associated with an improved response to treatment with DNA-damaging chemotherapeutics, such as temozolomide. Cancer stem cells
Glioblastoma cells with properties similar to progenitor cells (glioblastoma cancer stem cells) have been found in glioblastomas. Their presence, coupled with the glioblastomas diffuse nature results in difficulty in removing them completely by surgery, and is therefore believed to be the possible cause behind resistance to conventional treatments, and the high recurrence rate. Glioblastoma cancer stem cells share some resemblance with neural progenitor cells, both expressing the surface receptor CD133. CD44 can also be used as a cancer stem cell marker in a subset of glioblastoma tumour cells. Glioblastoma cancer stem cells appear to exhibit enhanced resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy mediated, at least in part, by up-regulation of the DNA damage response.