Bridging from multiscale modeling to practical clinical applications in the study of human gliomas

Gliomas are malignant lesions of the brain characterized by their propensity to proliferate and invade the normal-appearing tissue. These brain tumors show diverse anatomic and metabolic traits that manifest differently across patients, ranging in aggressiveness from low-grade gliomas (LGGs) to high-grade gliomas (HGGs). Approximately 50% of glioma patients are diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a World Health Organization grade IV glioma, which is the most aggressive type of brain tumor in adults (Louis et al. 2007). Difficulty in treating gliomas arises primarily from the invasiveness of the cell populations comprising the tumor. Despite extensive treatments including surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, GBMs have a propensity to recur and prove to be fatal with a median survival of approximately 1 year (Burnet et al. 2007; Welsh et al. 2009).