Importantly, the genetic or pharmacological inhibition of MDM2 resulted in the more efficient induction of p53 expression and apoptotic death in glioma stem cells than in their non-stem cell counterparts and normal cells, suggesting that the MDM2–p53 axis represents a hitherto unrecognized, non-metabolic vulnerability of glioma stem cells. This evidence concerns the gene MDM2 and central nervous system cancer.