Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Aug 26, 2025; 17(8): 108898
Published online Aug 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i8.108898
Stem cell-derived neural organoids as platforms to investigate glioblastoma invasion and migration: A systematic review
Arielly da Hora Alves, Nicole Mastandrea Ennes do Valle, Bruno Yukio Yokota-Moreno, Marta Caetano dos Santos Galanciak, Keithy Felix da Silva, Javier Bustamante Mamani, Andrea Laurato Sertie, Fernando Anselmo de Oliveira, Mariana Penteado Nucci, Lionel Fernel Gamarra
Arielly da Hora Alves, Nicole Mastandrea Ennes do Valle, Bruno Yukio Yokota-Moreno, Marta Caetano dos Santos Galanciak, Keithy Felix da Silva, Javier Bustamante Mamani, Andrea Laurato Sertie, Fernando Anselmo de Oliveira, Lionel Fernel Gamarra, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo 05529-060, Brazil
Mariana Penteado Nucci, LIM44, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05403-010, Brazil
Co-first authors: Arielly da Hora Alves and Nicole Mastandrea Ennes do Valle.
Author contributions: Alves ADH and Ennes do Valle NM contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors of this article. Alves ADH, Ennes do Valle NM and Gamarra LF conceived and designed this study; Alves ADH, Ennes do Valle NM, Yokota-Moreno BY, Galanciak MCDS, Felix da Silva K, Mamani JB, Sertie AL, de Oliveira FA, Nucci MP, and Gamarra LF performed the literature review, data extraction and critical review; Alves ADH, Ennes do Valle NM, Yokota-Moreno BY, de Oliveira FA, and Nucci MP interpreted and analyzed the collected data; Alves ADH, Ennes do Valle NM, Yokota-Moreno BY, Sertie AL, Nucci MP, and Gamarra LF wrote this review. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript as submitted.
Supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, No. 307318/2023-0 and No. 102035/2024-5; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, No. 2023/10843-7 and No 2019/21070-3; and Nanotechnology National Laboratory System 2.0, Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication, No. 442539/2019-3.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lionel Fernel Gamarra, PhD, Full Professor, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Av. Albert Einstein 627/701, Morumbi, São Paulo 05529-060, Brazil. lionelgamarra7@gmail.com
Received: April 27, 2025
Revised: May 27, 2025
Accepted: July 14, 2025
Published online: August 26, 2025
Processing time: 117 Days and 12.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This systematic review highlights human stem cell-derived neural organoids as promising three-dimensional models for investigating glioblastoma stem cell invasion/migration. Despite considerable methodological heterogeneity, the studies demonstrate the potential of these models to replicate key aspects of the tumor microenvironment, assess therapeutic responses, and support personalized medicine approaches. However, the lack of standardized protocols and evaluation methods poses a challenge to reproducibility and broader translational use. Standardizing methodologies will be key to advancing these models and establishing their value in translational glioblastoma research and the development of targeted therapies.