Development of Drug Therapy for High-grade Malignant Brain Tumors, Review of the Literature

Abstract

Introduction: High-grade glial tumors constitute an increasing neoplasm with few effective treatment options, despite extensive recent research.

Aims: To report the pharmacological treatment of patients with high-grade glial tumors and new experimental options.

Methods: We searched Medline (PubMed), Google academic, Web of Science, LILACs, and Cochrane library databases, prioritizing articles published between 2018 and 2021. The review was executed with the descriptors: brain tumor, glioblastoma, immunotherapy, targeted therapy; in Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese. A total of 127 articles were identified and selected with the purpose of retaining only those that best described the elements of the review, in Spanish, English and German. Thus, the study was limited to 48 articles, mainly original and review articles.

Conclusions: The last few years have witnessed great progress in fundamental aspects of cancer immunotherapy. The application of various immunotherapeutic approaches, especially combination strategies, have demonstrated some efficacy against glioblastoma multiforme. The association of immune checkpoint inhibitors with radiotherapy appears to be a promising strategy, however, disparity reactions in studies indicate the need for further research to evaluate efficacy in specific patient groups.

Current strategies are proving to be insufficient. Numerous clinical trials are underway that will provide new therapeutic tools for the disease in the future, especially in terms of combinations.