Background: Previous reports have proposed an association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subsequent glioblastoma (GBM) formation. Methods: We used literature searches and radiographic evidence from two patients to assess the possibility of a link between TBI and GBM. Results: Epidemiological studies are equivocal on a possible link between brain trauma and increased risk of malignant glioma formation. We present two case reports of patients with GBM arising at the site of prior brain injury. Conclusion: The hypothesis that TBI may predispose to gliomagenesis is disputed by several large-scale epidemiological studies, but supported by some. Radiographic evidence from two cases presented here suggest that GBM formed at the site of brain injury. We propose a putative pathogenesis model that connects post-traumatic inflammation, stem and progenitor cell transformation, and gliomagenesis.
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