Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant form of brain cancer. Even with aggressive standard of care, GBM almost always recurs because its diffuse, infiltrative nature makes these tumors difficult to treat. The use of biomaterials is one strategy that has been, and is being, employed to study and overcome recurrence. Biomaterials have been used in GBM in two ways: in vitro as mediums in which to model the tumor microenvironment, and in vivo to sustain release of cytotoxic therapeutics. In vitro systems are a useful platform for studying the effects of drugs and tissue-level effectors on tumor cells in a physiologically relevant context. These systems have aided examination of how glioma cells respond to a variety of natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic biomaterials with varying substrate properties, biochemical factor presentations, and non-malignant parenchymal cell compositions in both 2D and 3D environments. The current in vivo paradigm is completely different, however. Polymeric implants are simply used to line the post-surgical resection cavities and deliver secondary therapies, offering moderate impacts on survival. Instead, perhaps we can use the data generated from in vitro systems to design novel biomaterial-based treatments for GBM akin to a tissue engineering approach. Here we offer our perspective on the topic, summarizing how biomaterials have been used to identify facets of glioma biology in vitro and discussing the elements that show promise for translating these systems in vivo as new therapies for GBM.

中文翻译：

---

将生物材料转化为神经胶质瘤治疗的观点：体外模型的经验教训。

胶质母细胞瘤（GBM）是最常见、最恶性的脑癌。即使采用积极的护理标准，GBM 也几乎总是会复发，因为其弥漫性、浸润性使这些肿瘤难以治疗。生物材料的使用是一种已经用于研究和克服复发的策略。生物材料以两种方式用于 GBM：体外作为肿瘤微环境模型的介质，以及体内持续释放细胞毒性治疗药物。体外系统是在生理相关背景下研究药物和组织水平效应物对肿瘤细胞影响的有用平台。这些系统有助于检查神经胶质瘤细胞如何在 2D 和 3D 环境中对具有不同基质特性、生化因子呈现和非恶性实质细胞组成的各种天然、合成和半合成生物材料做出反应。然而，当前的体内范例完全不同。聚合物植入物仅用于排列术后切除腔并提供二次治疗，对生存产生中等影响。相反，也许我们可以利用体外系统生成的数据来设计基于生物材料的新型 GBM 治疗方法，类似于组织工程方法。在这里，我们提出了对此主题的看法，总结了如何使用生物材料在体外识别神经胶质瘤生物学的各个方面，并讨论了有望将这些系统体内转化为 GBM 新疗法的要素。