Despite recent advances in the treatment of solid
tumors, there are few effective treatments for
malignant gliomas due to the infiltrative nature, and the protective shield of blood-brain barrier or blood-
tumor barriers that restrict the passage of
chemotherapy drugs into the brain. Imaging techniques, such as PET and MRI, have allowed the assessment of
tumor function in vivo, but they are indirect measures of activity and do not easily allow continuous repeated evaluations. Because the biology of
glioma on a cellular and molecular level is fairly unknown, especially in relation to various treatments, the development of novel therapeutic approaches to this devastating condition requires a strong need for a deeper understanding of the
tumor's pathophysiology and biochemistry. Cerebral microdialysis, a probe-based sampling technique, allows a discrete volume of the brain to be sampled for neurochemical analysis of
neurotransmitters, metabolites,
biomarkers, and
chemotherapy drugs, which has been employed in studying
brain tumors, and is significant for improving the treatment of
glioma. In this review, the current concepts of cerebral microdialysis for
glioma are elucidated, with a special emphasis on its application to neurochemistry and pharmacokinetic studies.