NF-κB and STAT3 signaling in glioma: targets for future therapies

Glioblastoma remains the most clinically challenging tumor of the CNS, as evidenced by the dismal change in overall survival over the past 50 years. However, recent advances in high-throughput screening techniques have given rise to a wealth of new information regarding the aberrant signaling pathways that drive the tumor phenotype. Two of these so-called ‘oncopathways’ are NF-κB and JAK/STAT. This review will describe the basic mechanisms of these pathways, explore the relevance of NF-κB and JAK/STAT signaling in glioblastoma, and look ahead to experimental compounds that will integrate our knowledge of these pathways into existing therapies.