Chapter 8 - Hybrid polymeric scaffolds for brain applications: locoregional glioblastoma therapy

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders affect millions of people around the world, and for many of them, effective curative therapies are not available. Brain tumors represent one of the deadliest types of cancer; among them, glioblastoma (GBM), the most common malignant tumor of the CNS in adults, is characterized by high invasiveness, poor clinical prognosis, and high mortality rate. Many therapeutics have been shown to have potential curative effects in GBM patients. However, they display several issues such as low brain bioavailability, off-target toxicity, sub-optimal concentration, and the necessity of crossing the blood–brain barrier (BBB). In this chapter, we’ll provide an overview of the design and efficacy of the most recent locoregional approaches to improve the GBM therapeutic outcome. We’ll focus on polymer-based injectable/implantable scaffolds used as delivery systems for drugs and/or in combination with other therapeutic tools such as nanoparticles (NPs) and CAR-T cells.