KIF11 inhibition for glioblastoma treatment: reason to hope or a struggle with the brain?

Background Glioblastomas (GBM) are typically comprised of morphologically diverse cells. Despite current advances in therapy, including surgical resection followed by radiation and chemotherapy, the prognosis for patients with GBM remains poor. Unfortunately, most patients die within 2 years of diagnosis of their disease. Molecular abnormalities vary among individual patients and also within each tumor. Indeed, one of the distinguishing features of GBM is its marked genetic heterogeneity. Due to the brain location of the tumor, the potential target inhibition for anticancer therapy must exhibit a manageable neurotoxicity profile in the concentration range in which the compounds show anti-proliferative activity. Kinesin KIF11 inhibition by small molecules such as Monastrol or Ispinesib is currently under investigation in the field of malignant tumors. In the current study we have assessed the relevance of the anti-mitotic Kinesin-like protein KIF11 in human GBM cell-lines.