Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

The course will provide students with a broad understanding of the molecular basis of cancer, together with clinical aspects of cancer pathology and treatment. Sessions will include provision of fundamental information as well as discussion of current research addressing the cellular and molecular changes associated with cancer.

This option is assigned to block S2-B. There are normally 3 hours of contact on Tuesdays as arranged. 

Normally, only available to final-year students in a School of Life Sciences programme. Visiting students may be allowed to enrol, at the discretion of the School of Life Sciences Chief Adviser and the Course Coordinator. 

None

The course will be assessed by a 2-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%). The in-course assessment will comprise a poster based on published work (25%) and oral presentation of the poster (15%).

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The aims of this course are to: 

■ provide students with a broad understanding of the molecular basis of cancer and metastasis, together with clinical aspects of cancer treatment; 

■ encourage the development of skills relating to analysis, discussion and interpretation of data. 

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

■ appraise the current state of scientific knowledge of the molecular basis of cancer; 

■ discuss the classification and nomenclature of human tumours; 

■ discuss various mechanisms leading to carcinogenesis;

■ discuss cancer therapies, including tumour resistance to therapy and new targets for therapy;

■ discuss immune processes as they relate to cancer and cancer therapy;

■ interpret and analyse experimental data and research papers;

■ apply forward thinking and experimental design to address scientific questions.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.