Glioblastoma is the most frequent, highly heterogenous primary malignant brain tumor with very poor prognosis and survival rate. Despite recent medical advances, most patients survive only several months from the moment of diagnosis. Surgical intervention and chemoradiotherapy are insufficient to cure glioblastoma and from this reason new treatment approaches are still required. According to the recent oncological research, extracellular vesicles known as exosomes can bring a significant breakthrough in malignant tumors treatment, including glioblastoma. Exosomes that are equipped with anticancer drugs can pass through brain-blood barrier (BBB), that most drugs cannot overcome. What is more, exosomes can carry various cargo particles, that are specific for each tumor, so they are promising candidates for liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics. In this lecture, I highlight the role of exosomes in glioblastoma and their potential in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of this fatal brain disease. 

Przemyslaw Panek graduated from Medical University of Silesia in the field of biotechnology, at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in July 2022. In 2024 he became PhD student in Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in Warsaw, Poland. Since then, he has published several articles, mainly about the latest discoveries in cancer genetics, diagnosis and therapy. His main scientific interests focus on genetics in neoplastic illnesses, mainly malignant tumors of the central nervous system and exosome-based therapies in oncology.