Disruption of Vascular Barriers in Tumors and in the Brain

Background/introduction While most brain tumors do not have an intact bloodbrain barrier (BBB), vascular barriers in the tumor and the surrounding intact brain tissue are major challenges for the use of chemotherapy for CNS malignancies. The permeability of brain tumor vessels can be highly heterogeneous, and factors such as high interstitial pressures can prevent agents from reaching an effective concentration in all tumor regions. Furthermore, tumors such as glioma are highly infiltrative, and these infiltrating tumor cells in the brain tissue surrounding the vascular portion of the tumor are protected by the BBB.