• Mingrong Zuo, Tengfei Li, Zhihao Wang, Yufan Xiang, Siliang Chen, and Yanhui Liu.
• Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
• Chin. Med. J. 2024 Sep 10.

AbstractGliomas are the most common primary neuroepithelial tumors of the central nervous system in adults, of which glioblastoma is the deadliest subtype. Apart from the intrinsically indestructible characteristics of glioma (stem) cells, accumulating evidence suggests that the tumor microenvironment also plays a vital role in the refractoriness of glioblastoma. The primary functions of platelets are to stop bleeding and regulate thrombosis under physiological conditions. Furthermore, platelets are also active elements that participate in a variety of processes of tumor development, including tumor growth, invasion, and chemoresistance. Glioma cells recruit and activate resting platelets to become tumor-educated platelets (TEPs), which in turn can promote the proliferation, invasion, stemness, and chemoresistance of glioma cells. TEPs can be used to obtain genetic information about gliomas, which is helpful for early diagnosis and monitoring of therapeutic effects. Platelet membranes are intriguing biomimetic materials for developing efficacious drug carriers to enhance antiglioma activity. Herein, we review the recent research referring to the contribution of platelets to the malignant characteristics of gliomas and focusing on the molecular mechanisms mediating the interaction between TEPs and glioma (stem) cells, as well as present the challenges and opportunities in targeting platelets for glioma therapy.Copyright © 2024 The Chinese Medical Association, produced by Wolters Kluwer, Inc. under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.

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