Extracellular vesicles as liquid biopsy tools for personalized therapeutic goals in glioblastoma

While there has been a considerable increase in the understanding of glioblastoma and investigations into the therapeutic utility of several novel putative active compounds, the prognosis of glioblastoma patients remains dismal. This paradox makes glioblastoma a unique disease in which the availability of key molecular and biological insight does not translate into therapeutic discovery or improved outcomes. Much of the challenge in glioblastoma treatment is due to a dearth of tools capable of accurately selecting patients who may benefit from current standard-of-care or targeted therapies. Moreover, the lack of reliable circulating biomarkers also delays treatment initiation and hampers therapeutic response evaluation. However, the emergence of a personalized medicine paradigm employing extracellular vesicles has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment, bringing renewed hope for patients with glioblastoma. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the clinical outlook of current standard-of-care, immunotherapy, and their drawbacks, introduce the need for a personalized model, and finally discuss the conceptual underpinnings of how extracellular vesicle cargo as superior liquid biopsy tools can be utilized for a new personalized therapeutic approach in glioblastoma.