Immunological Microenvironment of Malignant Glioma: The Impact of Current Knowledge on Future Diagnosis and Treatment

Despite advances in our knowledge of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), there have been limited improvements in achieving median survival over the past decades. There is a need to explore new approaches to diagnosis and management of malignant glioma, particularly based on the increasing knowledge regarding the molecular and immune microenvironment of gliomas. Application of current discoveries in tumor immunology can be very helpful in accurately assessing the efficacy of glioma treatment (whether it is conventional or immunologically based treatment). Molecular characterization of malignant glioma provides important prognostic information and allows us to select groups of patients for optimal treatment strategy. The advances in tumor molecular environment have been very promising. However, obstacles towards their application remain. It can also help developing more practical and easier alternatives to molecular characterization of glioma to predict prognosis, as immune cells are easier to identify and quantify. This review summarizes the recent advances in immunological approaches in tumors’ diagnosis and treatment and their relevance to current and future advances in glioma management.