Abstract The World Health Organization has classified glioblastoma as a grade IV tumor, the highest grade. Despite improvements in neurosurgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, glioblastoma remains one of the most resistant tumors, and it consistently recurs. Glioblastoma cells that co-express the cancer stem cell biomarkers CD44 and CD133 play a crucial role in glioblastoma progression, as they possess the capacity to initiate tumors, self-renew, invade, and disseminate, ultimately leading to therapeutic resistance and recurrence. Simultaneous targeting of both biomarkers can impair essential glioblastoma cell processes, facilitating significant progress in alternative therapeutic techniques to improve the survival rate of glioblastoma patients. This review summarizes the roles that CD44 and CD133 play in various malignancies, the involvement of single and combined expression of CD44 and CD133 in worsening the prognosis for glioblastoma patients, and emphasizes that targeting both would be a viable treatment approach for glioblastoma.
Malak Hassn Mesrati (Mon,) studied this question.