{"entity":{"id":"blood-brain-barrier","kind":"term","name":"Blood-brain barrier (BBB)","aka":[],"tldr":"The tight seal around brain blood vessels that keeps most drugs out, one of the two main reasons brain cancer is so hard to treat.","summary":"Endothelial tight junctions, efflux transporters (P-gp, BCRP), and pericytes exclude most antibodies and all but small, lipophilic small molecules. Glioblastoma disrupts the barrier heterogeneously (contrast enhancement) but infiltrating cells sit behind intact barrier. Strategies: lipophilic/small brain-penetrant drugs (temozolomide, lomustine, dordaviprone, vorasidenib), locoregional delivery (CAR-T, convection-enhanced), focused-ultrasound opening, LITT, and intra-arterial delivery.","asOf":"2026-09-06","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood–brain_barrier","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood–brain_barrier"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["glioblastoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["bbb-focused-ultrasound","litt","glioma-car-t"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["efflux-pump"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Cancer biology"},"route":"/terms/blood-brain-barrier/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"idh-mutant-astrocytoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Astrocytoma, IDH-mutant (grades 2 to 4)","route":"/cancers/idh-mutant-astrocytoma/"},{"id":"secondary-brain-tumours","kind":"cancer","name":"Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours)","route":"/cancers/secondary-brain-tumours/"},{"id":"dipg-dmg","kind":"cancer","name":"Diffuse midline glioma, H3 K27-altered (including DIPG)","route":"/cancers/dipg-dmg/"},{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"},{"id":"medulloblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Medulloblastoma","route":"/cancers/medulloblastoma/"},{"id":"primary-cns-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Primary CNS lymphoma","route":"/cancers/primary-cns-lymphoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"glioma-car-t","kind":"technology","name":"CAR-T for glioma (IL13Rα2, GD2, EGFRvIII, multi-target)","route":"/technologies/glioma-car-t/"},{"id":"bbb-focused-ultrasound","kind":"technology","name":"Focused-ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening","route":"/technologies/bbb-focused-ultrasound/"},{"id":"litt","kind":"technology","name":"Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT)","route":"/technologies/litt/"}],"term":[{"id":"efflux-pump","kind":"term","name":"Drug efflux pumps (ABC transporters)","route":"/terms/efflux-pump/"}],"drug":[{"id":"dordaviprone","kind":"drug","name":"Dordaviprone","route":"/drugs/dordaviprone/"},{"id":"entrectinib","kind":"drug","name":"Entrectinib","route":"/drugs/entrectinib/"},{"id":"lomustine","kind":"drug","name":"Lomustine (CCNU)","route":"/drugs/lomustine/"},{"id":"methotrexate","kind":"drug","name":"Methotrexate","route":"/drugs/methotrexate/"}],"trial":[{"id":"checkmate-143","kind":"trial","name":"CheckMate 143","route":"/trials/checkmate-143/"},{"id":"checkmate-498","kind":"trial","name":"CheckMate 498","route":"/trials/checkmate-498/"},{"id":"checkmate-548","kind":"trial","name":"CheckMate 548","route":"/trials/checkmate-548/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-bio2-implanted-ultrasound-repeat-dosing","kind":"idea","name":"A skull ultrasound implant that opens the barrier at every cycle","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-implanted-ultrasound-repeat-dosing/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-blood-csf-barrier-model","kind":"idea","name":"Build a human model of the barrier that guards the brain fluid","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-blood-csf-barrier-model/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-intranasal-delivery","kind":"idea","name":"Deliver drugs and cells to the brain through the nose","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-intranasal-delivery/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-brain-penetrant-glue-degraders","kind":"idea","name":"Design protein degraders small enough to get into the brain","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-brain-penetrant-glue-degraders/"},{"id":"idea-fus-plus-adc-glioma","kind":"idea","name":"Focused-ultrasound BBB opening to deliver ADCs and radioligands to glioma","route":"/ideas/idea-fus-plus-adc-glioma/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-brain-exposure-disclosure","kind":"idea","name":"Require every oncology candidate to publish how much reaches the brain","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-brain-exposure-disclosure/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-robotic-convection-delivery","kind":"idea","name":"Robot-placed catheters and live imaging for drug infusion into brain tumours","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-robotic-convection-delivery/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-sonobiopsy","kind":"idea","name":"Ultrasound-assisted blood test instead of a brain biopsy","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-sonobiopsy/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-transferrin-shuttle-adc","kind":"idea","name":"Use the brain's own transport door to carry antibody drugs across","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-transferrin-shuttle-adc/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-brain-delivery","kind":"bottleneck","name":"The brain: barrier and sanctuary","route":"/bottlenecks/b-brain-delivery/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"organ-tropism-seed-soil","kind":"pathway","name":"Organ tropism: seed and soil","route":"/pathways/organ-tropism-seed-soil/"},{"id":"blood-brain-barrier-metastasis","kind":"pathway","name":"The blood-brain barrier & brain metastasis","route":"/pathways/blood-brain-barrier-metastasis/"}]}}