Teacher(s)

Baurain Jean-François; Coulie Pierre coordinator; Duprez Thierry; Gallez Bernard; Grégoire Vincent; Havelange Violaine; Marbaix Etienne;

Language

French

Prerequisites

cellular biology, histology, molecular biology, physics, biochemistry, immunology.

Main themes

Description of the hallmarks of cancer and of the main tools used for its diagnosis and treatment. A few fields will be covered in more detail: the genetic causes of some blood cancers, the pathological examination of tissue samples to faithfully detect a tumor, the imaging technologies and their remarkable progresses over the recent years, radiotherapy and its interaction with modern imaging technologies, the so-called targeted therapies which deal with signal transduction pathways involved in cell proliferation, and immunotherapy.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Understand the main concepts behind the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. On the basis of the hallmarks of cancer, understand which of them can lead to diagnostic tools for many or some cancer types, and which of them can be specifically targeted by chemical or physical agents in order to treat and possibly cure patients.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

Lessons alternate between basic and clinical sciences in order to link as much as possible the progresses of fundamental sciences and their practical consequences for cancer patients. The clinical concepts of oncology will be simplified in order for all the presented materials to be understandable for students in biomedical sciences.
Covered topics: Pathological diagnosis of cancer, Principles and applications of anatomical and functional imaging techniques for the diagnosis and assessment of cancer, Genetics and cancer, Anticancer chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Cancer immunotherapy.

Teaching methods

Lectures.

Evaluation methods

Written exam, mostly open questions.

Online resources

Slides.

Bibliography

• Dias sur Moodle

Teaching materials

• Dias sur Moodle

Faculty or entity

FASB