Emerging patents in the therapeutic areas of glioma and glioblastoma

<b>Introduction</b>: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive malignant glioma, with patients having a median survival of just over one year. Current chemotherapies, with surgery and radiotherapy, provide only minor patient benefit. There is a great need to discover and develop novel therapies for this devastating disease. <b>Areas covered</b>: The patent literature reveals novel therapies, providing insights into emerging GBM therapeutics. We have used the Google and USPTO patent databases to generate a detailed landscape of patents and patent applications from companies active in the areas of glioma and/or GBM. Specific patents have been grouped into six areas: novel compounds; treatments and therapeutic targets; combination therapies; immunotherapies; delivery methods; and biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis. <b>Expert opinion</b>: There has been a steady increase in the number of patents on GBM over the last five years. Despite many new compounds being developed and patented for a broad range of cancers, only a small percentage of these are specifically targeted to GBM. Notable trends in the patent literature include both the development of combination therapies to combat the heterogeneous nature of GBM, and the use of immunotherapies building on the promise of cancer vaccines and CAR T-cell therapy.

**引言**：多形性胶质母细胞瘤（Glioblastoma multiforme, GBM）是最常见且恶性程度最高的胶质瘤，患者中位生存期仅一年有余。当前临床常用的手术、放疗联合化疗方案，仅能为患者带来有限的临床获益，亟需针对这一致命性疾病探索并开发全新的治疗手段。
**覆盖领域**：专利文献披露了诸多新型治疗策略，为新兴GBM治疗药物的研发提供了重要思路。我们依托谷歌专利数据库与美国专利商标局（USPTO）专利数据库，梳理了活跃于胶质瘤和/或GBM领域的企业所提交的专利及专利申请信息，构建了详尽的GBM专利全景图谱。相关专利被划分为六大类别：新型化合物、治疗方案与治疗靶点、联合疗法、免疫疗法、给药方式，以及用于诊断与预后的生物标志物。
**专家评述**：近五年来，GBM相关专利数量呈稳步增长态势。尽管针对多种癌症开发并申请专利的新型化合物数量可观，但其中仅有极小比例专门针对GBM。专利文献中值得关注的研发趋势包括：为应对GBM的肿瘤异质性而开发的联合疗法，以及基于癌症疫苗与嵌合抗原受体T细胞（CAR T-cell）疗法研发进展的免疫疗法应用。