Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most common type of malignant brain tumor and are very aggressive, which means they grow quickly. The current treatment options are limited. “We’re interested in finding the targets that drive the proliferation of these cells, or their resistance to radiotherapy, and then manipulate this to increase the ability of radiotherapy to kill them, or make it so they no longer divide [and grow],” said Monica Venere, PhD, a member of the OSUCCC – James Cancer Biology program and an assistant professor of radiation oncology. In this episode, Venere explains the basics of GBMs: What they are and why they are so aggressive, and the current standard of care. She then describes the work of her lab, which is to identify new targets within the GBM cells to attack through chemotherapy and radiation. She is especially interested in mitosis, which is the final step in the division of cells from one to two. One of the targets that Venere and the members of her lab have identified is KIF11, which is expressed at a high rate in GBMs. “This is an indication the cancer cell is more dependent [on the KIF11],” she said, adding the next step is to target this protein “and see if we can get a higher cell kill.”