Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the deadliest human cancers. Current therapies including standard-of-care surgery, radiation (IR) and chemotherapy (TMZ) fail to eliminate the infiltrative and invasive GBM cells. Immunotherapeutic strategies remain ineffective for GBM. Small subsets of GBM cells that display stem-like phenotypes (GSC) and have the capacity for unlimited self-renewal, multi-lineage differentiation and efficiently propagate tumors in xenograft models have been identified and suggested to be responsible for therapeutic resistance and tumor recurrence. The tumor microenvironment is critical for GSCs to efficiently sustain their oncogenic functions, highlighting the importance of understanding the biological interactions between GSCs and the tumor microenvironment.

Our current understanding of GSC interactions with the tumor microenvironment and the underlying molecular basis are limited. The aim of this Research Topic is to address the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamic and bi-directional interactions between GSCs and tumor microenvironment cells including neurons, glial cells, endothelial cells, and immune cells at baseline and in response to standard-of-care radiation and chemotherapy, as well as to develop combinational therapy strategies for targeting GSC and tumor microenvironment crosstalk.

Research focusing on pediatric and adult GBM as well as diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) with Histone 3 K27M mutations are welcome in this Research Topic. We welcome submissions of Original Research and Reviews. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

-The roles of GSCs in the brain tumor microenvironment.

-The cellular and molecular mechanisms that link GSCs to non-malignant cells such as neurons, glial cells, endothelial cells, and immune cells.

-Cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern interactions between GSCs and non-cellular components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and blood vessels.

-The development of novel 3D organoids and humanized mouse models for studying GSCs and tumor microenvironment interactions.

-GSC and tumor microenvironment interactions in response to standard-of-care radiation (IR) and chemotherapy (TMZ).

-Combinational therapeutic strategies for targeting GSCs and tumor microenvironment crosstalk.

Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.

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Frontiers in Oncology

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