Glioblastoma: Year of the Zebra

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Most of us live our lives according to our plans and expectations. We have small goals for the day, overarching targets for the year, expectations for the decade, and dreams for the future. What we don’t realize is how fast things can change, and how our life plans have to sometimes adapt radically to new circumstances. This is the reality of this week’s zebra, Glioblastoma. Glioblastomas are aggressive and malignant brain tumors that originate from a type of glial cell in the brain called an astrocyte. Usually, glioblastoma growth rate is characterized as grade IV on a scale from I to IV, indicating rapid tumor growth. Glioblastomas can be located anywhere in the brain and do not regularly spread outside of the brain. Common symptoms include headaches, seizures, confusion, memory loss, muscle weakness, visual changes, language deficit and cognitive changes. The age group affected is usually older individuals aged 45 to 70 with rare occurrences in children. About 3 in every 100,000 people per year are affected by glioblastoma. Treatment methods typically include a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and others. To learn more about the diagnosis and treatment of Glioblastoma, watch the dedicated Osmosis video on YouTube and Osmosis.org