Tumour Biology

Aim

The purpose of the course is for the students to obtain advanced knowledge about tumour development in general including the genetic basis of human cancer. Furthermore, the course will give an overview of cancer by site taking into account different clinical and biological aspects as well as the occurrence of specific gene alterations. The course is elective semester one or three in the Master’s Programme in Experimental and Medical Biosciences. LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of the course the students will be able to: Knowledge and understanding -Analyze and discuss specific capabilities of cancer cells and how the biological/genetic alterations occur for normal cell to tumor cell -Integrate knowledge in tumour biology in different types of malignancies in relation to environmental factors, gender, age, hormonal influence, and molecular alterations Competence and skills -Design an experiment in order to analyse how the alterations in cell signalling may interfere with the cellular response to damage Judgement and approach -Analyze and assess experimental results in tumour biology -Evaluate and discuss new hypotheses in the field of cancer research

Content

-Organ specific cancer: different spectra of malignancies in relation to race, gender, age, and molecular biology -Mechanisms of tumour development, invasion and metastasis -Concepts in cancer genetics including oncogene, tumour suppressor gene, mismatched repaired genes, and apoptosis related genes -Control of the cell cycle and cancer -Angiogenesis and cancer -Hormones and cancer -Stem cells and cancer -Tumour immunology -The principle of tumour diagnosis and treatment