Predicting the cell death responsiveness and sensitization of glioma cells to TRAIL and temozolomide.

Genotoxic chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ) is a mainstay of treatment for glioblastoma (GBM); however, at best, TMZ provides only modest survival benefit to a subset of patients. Recent insight into the heterogeneous nature of GBM suggests a more personalized approach to treatment may be necessary to overcome cancer drug resistance and improve patient care. These include novel therapies that can be used both alone and with TMZ to selectively reactivate apoptosis within malignant cells.