Advances in Omics Technologies in GBM

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal human cancers and poses a great challenge in the therapeutic interventions of GBM patients worldwide. Despite prominent recent advances in oncology, on an average GBM patients survive 12–15 months with conventional standard of care treatment. To understand the pathophysiology of this disease, recently the research focus has been on omics-based approaches. Advances in high-throughput assay development and bioinformatic techniques have provided new opportunities in the molecular analysis of cancer omics technologies including genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Further, the enormous addition and accessibility of public databases with associated clinical demographic information including tumor histology, patient response and outcome, have profoundly improved our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms driving cancer. In GBM, omics have significantly aided in defining the molecular architecture of tumorigenesis, uncovering relevant subsets of patients whose disease may require different treatments. In this review, we focus on the unique advantages of multifaceted omics technologies and discuss the implications on translational GBM research.