BMS5012 Cancer biology and therapeutics
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
BMS5012 Cancer biology and therapeutics is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, offered in 2023 in Semester 1 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2023
- Semester 1
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 3 tasks
This is the 2023 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before BMS5012
Prerequisites
Pass these before you enrol.
After BMS5012
No unit lists BMS5012 as a prerequisite in the 2023 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Corequisite: Must be enrolled in course M6003
Pre-requisite: Enrolment in M6003 or M6030.
Overview
The aim of this unit is to introduce and develop students' understanding of cancer biology, including the molecular mechanisms underpinning human cancers and targeted therapeutics used to treat patients with this disease.
Three main themes will be presented:
i) Major hallmarks of cancer (including immunology, metabolism, and cell biology),
ii) Genomic features of cancer (including tumour suppressors and oncogenes, molecular subtypes spanning genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic features),
iii) Targeted therapies in human cancer including personalised medicine.
Topics within these major themes will cover both basic research and clinical aspects.
The practical component of this unit will present students with the opportunity to interact with leading researchers in the cancer biology field, explore the important scientific and clinical issues associated with cancer research, extend their knowledge of the scientific literature, and increase their knowledge of translational research, involving clinical application of scientific discoveries. This unit will provide the high-level knowledge base and understanding required to generate cutting-edge research questions and undertake enquiry directed to answering that research question.
Offerings in 2023
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- 3 x Theme-specific worksheets (500 words each)30%
- Literature Review (2,500 words)Threshold hurdle40%
- Design a clinical trial (1,500 words)30%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Identify, evaluate and effectively communicate key concepts and results and their implications from high impact recent publications in the field of cancer biology and translational cancer research;
- 2
Analyse, interpret and present data from a range of experiment types and discuss this in the context of current scientific literature.
- 3
Review and critique scientific literature relevant to a specified scientific question to formulate a scientific hypothesis to underpin a research project in the field of cancer biology;
- 4
Evaluate and integrate current knowledge on the genetic drivers of cancer to design trials to assess new cancer therapeutics;
- 5
Review, evaluate and justify appropriate approaches for clinical trial design based on preclinical evidence.
Workload and teaching
- Workshops33 hours
- Lectures7 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
Average: 4 staff-student contact hours + 2 hours directed learning per week on-campus. This covers 1 hour lecture, 3 hours workshop/practical time,2 hours small-group directed learning activities plus 6 hours of self-directed learning per week.
For full details of the teaching approach to this unit, please refer to Moodle.
Learning resources
Required resources
See Moodle for details about required resources.
Contacts
- Unit Coordinators
- Associate Professor Renea Taylor
- Chief Examiners
- Associate Professor Renea Taylor
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for BMS5012?
BMS5012 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is BMS5012 offered?
In 2023, BMS5012 runs in Semester 1 at Clayton.
Does BMS5012 have an exam?
No. BMS5012 has 3 assessment tasks and no exam.