Radial glial cells and glioblastoma: how developmental neurobiology can inform our understanding of brain cancer initiation, treatment resistance, and resilience

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) remains one of the most lethal brain malignancies, with an abysmal five-year survival rate near 6 %. Despite advances in tumor biology, clinical outcomes have not improved, partially due to glioma stem cells (GSCs) that drive treatment resistance. Radial glial cells (RGCs), recognized as key progenitors in neurodevelopment, have recently gained attention in GBM research due to RGC-like populations being identified in GBM. RGCs have striking similarities with GSCs, including their mechanisms of self-renewal, pluripotency, and migration. This review highlights those parallels between as well as recent studies on their critical intersections to expand our comprehension of neurodevelopmental paradigms in GBM. Understanding these parallels may uncover developmental pathways that can be exploited to improve therapeutic strategies for GBM.