Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy (CINS0016)

The interaction of cancer with the immune microenvironment, and the potential for its use in cancer treatment, is of rapidly growing importance in the current forefront of cancer research. Monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors, oncolytic viruses and cell based therapies, such as Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cells, and modified Dendritic Cells or Natural Killer cells, are now being routinely used as standard treatment for certain cancer types. There is vast potential for cancer immunotherapies to produce highly effective treatment responses, targeting tumour cells all-round the body, and for some therapy types producing cancer-specific immunological memory.

This module will explore the interplay of tumour cells with tumour infiltrating immune cells, and will investigate the anti- and pro-tumorigenic pathways that this can activate, and the mechanisms of immune surveillance and immune evasion. The module will also examine different immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer treatment and the engineering of cell based immunotherapies.

This module allows students to take their theoretical knowledge and practical skills from other modules throughout the entire course and to apply these to...

Cancer Biomedicine Research Project (CINS0011)

This module allows students to take their theoretical knowledge and practical skills from other modules throughout the entire course and to apply these to their own individual research question. Students will be expected to employ the scientific method to address this question through data collection and/or analysis in a laboratory, bioinformatics or clinical setting as appropriate. Using experimental, analytical and/or statistical methodologies, as appropriate, students will be able to reach novel conclusions and to place these into context with published scientific knowledge. This research project reflects research practice by qualified scientists, and requires collaborative working with a research supervisor/team, and therefore enables students to develop and implement the professional and employability skills needed for a research career.