Special Topic of Glioblastoma
Published September 2011
Glioblastomas are one of the most common primary malignant brain tumors, and the most invasive. The causes of brain tumors are largely unknown. Some suspected risk factors include male gender, age over 50, ethnicity, having a low-grade astrocytoma, exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation, or having certain predisposing genetic disorders.
The features of this Special Topic outlined above represent distinct slices of citation data. By approaching citation data from multiple angles, we can observe trends and anomalies across categories—leading to more rich and nuanced stories behind the data.
The baseline time span for this database is (publication years) January 1, 2001-July 17, 2011. This analysis was created using the Web of Science® from Clarivate. The resulting database contained 11,433 (10 years) and 4,272 (2 years) papers; 38,541 authors; 83 nations; 1,357 journals; and 6,356 institutions. See additional information below in the overview & methodology sections.
Topic Overview
Gliobastoma (astrocytoma) WHO grade
IV - MRI coronal view, post contrast.
From the
Wiki Commons.
Glioblastomas are one of the most common primary malignant brain tumors, and the most invasive. The National Cancer Institute estimates that there are 22,340 new cases of brain and other nervous system cancers diagnosed annually.1 According to the International RadioSurgery Association, about 13,000 Americans die from malignant brain tumors each year, accounting for about 2% of the cancer mortality rate.2
The causes of brain tumors are largely unknown. Some suspected risk factors include male gender, age over 50, ethnicity (Caucasians, Asians, and Latinos are at a higher risk), having a low-grade astrocytoma, exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation; or having certain predisposing genetic disorders such as neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, Von Hippel-Lindau disease, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, or Turcot's syndrome.3 Symptoms can include headache; nausea and vomiting; speech, sight, or hearing problems; motor and balance problems; changes in mood or personality; memory problems; seizures; and numbness in the extremities.4
Treatment options include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Prognosis, however, is generally poor. Although treatment can improve quality of life, patients do not tend to survive more than five years past diagnosis.3
1. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/brain/page3
2. http://www.irsa.org/glioblastoma.html
3.
http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/glioblastoma-multiforme
4. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/brain/page5
Constructing the Database
In this analysis, Special Topics examines the literature on glioblastoma over the past decade and over the past two years. To construct the initial data pool, the keyword "glioblastoma*" was used to search titles, abstracts, and keywords of original articles, reviews, and proceedings papers published in the in the Web of Science® database from Clarivate between January 1, 2001 and July 17, 2011. To make the paper lists more on-point, we restricted to those articles containing the keyword "glioblastoma*" in the title.
INTERVIEWS MENU
Read interviews, first-person essays, profiles, and other features about people in a wide variety of fields, along with information on journals & institutions in the topic of Glioblastoma. All of the author comments below are also listed in the site-wide Author Commentaries listings (available by month/year or alphabetically).
JANUARY 2012
Henry Friedman Discusses the Quagmire of
Glioblastoma
Our Special Topics analysis of
glioblastoma research over the past decade shows that the work of
Dr. Henry Friedman ranks at #6 by total papers and #15 by total
cites, based on 89 papers cited a total of 3,894 times. Three of
these papers rank among the top 20 papers over the past decade or
over the past two years. In
Essential Science IndicatorsSM his work
includes 177 papers, the majority of which are classified in the field
of Clinical Medicine, cited a total of 5,003 times between January 1,
2001 and August 31, 2011. In this interview, he talks with
ScienceWatch.com correspondent Gary Taubes about his highly
cited work.
DECEMBER 2011
Kenneth Aldape on Gene Expression Profiling in
Glioblastoma
Our Special Topics analysis of
Glioblastoma research over the past decade shows that the work of
Dr. Kenneth Aldape ranks at #3 by total papers and #14 by total
cites, based on 91 papers cited a total of 3,951 times. In
Essential Science IndicatorsSM from
Clarivate, he
ranks among the top 1% of researchers in the field of Clinical
Medicine. In this interview below, ScienceWatch.com
correspondent Gary Taubes talks with Aldape about his research
concerning glioblastoma.
NOVEMBER 2011
Michael Weller Discusses the Role of TGF-beta in
Glioblastoma
Our Special Topics analysis of
Glioblastoma research over the past decade shows that the work of
Prof. Dr. Michael Weller ranks at #1 by total papers and #2 by
total cites, based on 128 papers cited a total of 7,149 times. In
Essential Science IndicatorsSM from
Clarivate,
his work appears in the top 1% in the field of Clinical Medicine and
Neuroscience & Behavior. In this interview,
ScienceWatch.com correspondent Gary Taubes talks with Weller
about his highly cited work as it relates to glioblastoma.
OCTOBER 2011
Roger McLendon on Solving the Jigsaw Puzzle of
Glioblastoma
According to our Special Topics
analysis of Glioblastoma research over the past decade, the work
of Dr. Roger McLendon ranks at #5 by total cites and #12 by total
papers, based on 73 papers cited a total of 5,311 times during the
analysis period. Four of these papers rank among the 20 most-cited
over the past decade or over the past two years in
Essential Science IndicatorsSM from
Clarivate, he
ranks in the top 1% among scientists in the field of Clinical Medicine.
Here, ScienceWatch.com talks with McLendon about his highly
cited work as it relates to glioblastoma.
Thresholds
Once the database was in place, it was used to generate list of authors, journals, institutions, and nations. Rankings for author, journal, institution, and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total papers, and total cites/paper*. The paper thresholds and corresponding percentages used to determine scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows:
| Entity | Authors | Institutions | Journals | Nations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thresholds | 15 | 61 | 16 | 18 |
| Percentage: | %1 | %1 | %10 | %50 |
| *Unless otherwise specified, all rankings have a >= 5 paper threshold for all measures. | ||||
Methodology
The baseline time span for this database is (publication years) January 1, 2001-July 17, 2011. This analysis was created using the Web of Science® from Clarivate. The resulting database contained 11,433 (10 years) and 4,272 (2 years) papers; 38,541 authors; 83 nations; 1,357 journals; and 6,356 institutions. See additional information below in the overview & methodology sections.
Keywords
The Internet search terms for this Topic are:
GLIOBLASTOMA, RADIOTHERAPY, CONCOMITANT, ADJUVANT, TEMOZOLOMIDE, MGMT GENE SILENCING, GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME, GENOMIC ANALYSIS, MICRORNA-21, TUMORIGENESIS, APOPTOSIS, STEM-LIKE NEURAL PRECURSORS, EGFR KINASE INHIBITORS, AZD2171, PAN-VEGF RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASE INHIBITORS, TUMOR VASCULATURE, EDEMA, PROGNOSIS, RESECTION, SURVIVAL, SMAD, FORKHEAD, CELL PROLIFERATION, TUMOR STEM CELLS, BFGF, EGF, PHENOTYPE, GENOTYPE, BEVACIZUMAB, IRINOTECAN, RECURRENCE, CHEMORESISTANCE, CDI33(+) CANCER STEM CELLS, GEFITINIB, INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR RECEPTOR I, ANTI-EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR RECEPTOR, PHOSPHOINOSITIDE 3-KINASE SIGNALING, TEMSIROLIMUS, EORTC-NCIC TRIAL, CLINICALLY RELEVANT SUBTYPES, PDGFRA, IDH1, NF1, ERLOTINIB, GLIOSARCOMA, CARMUSTINE, TUMOR-INITIATING CELLS, SSEA-1, MOLECULAR PREDICTORS, GERMAN GLIOMA NETWORK, VASCULAR NORMALIZATION INDEX, CEDIRANIB, BEAD-BASED PROFILING, TYROSINE KINASE PHOSPHORYLATION, SOX2 SILENCING, TUMORIGENICITY, LIF, SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS, HYPOXIC MICROENVIRONMENT.
Reuters PictureS and Featured Images
A visitor views butterfly pupae at the Natural
History Museum in London March 31, 2010.
REUTERS/Toby Melville.
Some of the images throughout the Special Topic of Glioblastoma are from Reuters Pictures. Other images used are credited and linked to their source.
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Featured Image: Tamas Freund holds a human brain at the Institute of Experimental Medicine of Hungarian Academy of Science in Budapest. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh.