Thursday 19 & Friday 20 October 2017, Manchester
2-day course: Introduction to cancer biology & personalised treatments for solid tumours
Level: intermediate
Audience: Ideal for research nurses, clinical nurse specialists, administrative staff, clinical trials coordinators
Description: This 2-day course provides a grounding in cancer biology before moving to descriptions of a wide range of targeted treatments for solid tumours. Also includes mechanisms of drug resistance and an introduction to biomarkers and personalised cancer care. This course goes at a slower pace than many of my other courses, and includes a variety of practical exercises, question sheets and quizzes.
To book, contact: education.events@christie.nhs.uk
Programme Day 1
Cancer cell biology – key concepts
- Cells, DNA, chromosomes, genes, proteins
- Cell division and the cell cycle
- Cell-cell communication
Cancer genetics
- Why DNA damage results in cancer
- Causes of DNA damage
- Types of DNA damage and their consequences
- Oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes
The hallmarks of cancer
- 8 hallmarks of cancer cells
- The tumour microenvironment
Introduction to targeted cancer treatments
- The current state of play of targeted cancer treatments
- Monoclonal antibodies and small molecule kinase inhibitors
- Comparing monoclonal antibodies and kinase inhibitors
Why the drugs don’t work
- The complexity of cancer
- Genetic instability and intratumoural heterogeneity
- Resistance mechanisms
Programme Day 2
Targeted treatments for solid tumours part 1
- The importance of growth factor receptors and their downstream pathways as drug targets for solid tumours
- Growth factor receptor inhibitors in use and trials (e.g. cetuximab, panitumumab, trastuzumab, erlotinib, gefitinib, afatinib, osimertinib, lapatinib)
- mTOR inhibitors (everolimus), B-Raf inhibitors (vemurafenib, dabrafenib) and MEK inhibitors (trametinib, cobimetinib)
Targeted treatments for solid tumours part 2
- VEGF/angiogenesis inhibitors (e.g. bevacizumab, sorafenib, sunitinib, pazopanib, axitinib)
- PARP inhibitors (e.g. olaparib)
- ALK inhibitors (e.g. crizotinib, alectinib, ceritinib)
Immunotherapy
- Immunotherapy-based cancer treatments (e.g. nivolumab, ipilimumab)
Clinical trials for targeted treatments: a moving picture
- New paradigms in clinical trial design
- Clinical development case studies: gefitinib and crizotinib
- The use of biomarkers to select patients for trials and treatments for patients