Undergraduate - UnitPSC3322 - Current aspects of cancer biology

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Offered	Parkville Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr John Haynes

Notes

Note: This unit was previously titled Current aspects of pharmaceutical biology with code PSC3032.

Synopsis

This unit will introduce students to cancer cell biology. The specific topics covered include The Nature of Cancer, Cellular Oncogenes & Tumor Suppressor Genes, Growth Factor Receptors and Cytoplasmic Signalling, Multistep Tumorigenesis, and Invasion & Metastasis.

Outcomes

At the end of this unit students will be able discuss:

What, in a cellular context, cancers represent;
How cells usually prevent their own uncontrolled growth;
Common signalling underlying tumor growth;
Whether all cancer cells are equal;
How tumor cells invade new tissue.

Assessment

Final exam (2 hour): 60%; Mid-semester test, practical work and learning exercises 40%.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr John Haynes

Workload requirements

Contact hours for on-campus students:

Twenty four 1-hour lectures
One 2- hour Tutorials
Four 3-hour practical laboratories
Directed independent study

Prerequisites

PSC1011 Physiology I
PSC1012 Physiology II
PSC2011 Biochemical Pharmacology
PSC2012 Molecular Pharmacology

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.monash.edu/pharm/current/