Cancer Sciences BSc

This module provides you with hands-on experience of research in cancer sciences and develops the practical skills required to conduct a research project. You’ll design, plan, and perform a research project under the guidance of an academic supervisor. As part of the project, you will:

• read and critically analyse scientific literature
• collect, analyse, and interpret data of many different types including in some cases bioinformatic data or other types of non-laboratory data
• write a dissertation based on your reading of the literature and the data that you have collected and/or analysed
• produce a poster that summarises the results of your work and present in a conference-type setting

Building on the skills you gained in Year two, this module continues to analyse cancer biology but in the context of molecular therapeutics. You’ll do this by examining emerging research,  in solid tumours and also in blood cancers, from diverse areas such as DNA repair, cell cycle control, growth factor signaling, hypoxia, apoptotic and autophagic mechanisms, epigenetic mechanisms, cancer stem cell properties, bioelectrical signalling. Therapeutics currently used in the clinic as well as novel therapeutics being developed pre-clinically will be a particular focus. 

Students who choose this module will receive a thorough grounding in the foundations of immunology pertaining to T-cell responses.  The essential models of T-cell activation will be taught with key lectures on dendritic cells, T-cell responses to infectious (pathogens) and sterile antigens (ie cancer), and immune escape.  These form the foundations of understanding later lectures on cutting edge immunotherapies including immune checkpoint blockade and CAR-T therapies.  This module’s teaching team comprises research specialist scientists and consultant oncologists.

This module considers:

• The spectrum of cancers that occur in childhood and how types of cancer and drivers are different to adult cancers
• Current treatments and outcomes for a range of paediatric cancers
• The principles behind chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery in childhood cancer
• How improved understanding of the underlying biology is driving novel treatment strategies
• An in-depth consideration of preclinical approaches to developing novel treatment strategies
• Issues with translating findings in the laboratory to clinical trials and finally standard of care
• The broader effects of paediatric cancer on families and independent living for survivors

A key objective will be to understand that the consequences of treatment are lifelong for survivors.

This module explores the tumour microenvironment. You’ll examine the components of the tumour microenvironment that influence cancer cell behaviours (proliferation, invasiveness, drug resistance), the mechanisms underlying these influences, and opportunities for new drug treatments.

This module considers advanced methodologies, approaches, and technologies at the forefront of current cancer research including:

• Innovative technologies
• Discovery biology (phenotype analysis) - genetic screening using CRISPR, shRNA, and siRNA
• Transcriptomics - RNA seq, spatial transcriptomics, and single cell sequencing
• Epigenomics - ChIP seq, RIME, Proteomics, Metabolomics including spatial metabolomics
• Artificial Intelligence/imaging
• Databases/platforms and their use.In vivo tumour models: transgenesis and in vivo assays (intra-spleen injections, tail vein injections, orthotopic models, subcutaneous tumour models, and other approaches that model primary tumour growth and metastasis)
• 3D in vitro tissue culture approaches: organoids, patient tissue explants, and tumour spheroids
• Bioengineering in 3D cancer models and description of synthetic niches mimicking the tumour microenvironment
• Drug screening using in vitro models and consideration of pharmacokinetics (including for drug-resistant cells)
• Translation of new models into the clinic and in-depth consideration of preclinical approaches in the development of novel treatment strategies
• Phase I and Phase II clinical trials