Learning to Understand Cancer Better

+41 76 370 73 25

vanya@loroch.ch

Linkedin
Vanya-Loroch-Logo_inverted
Menu

oncology for non-oncologists

Course Highlights:

Introduction to key defective mechanisms that differentiate cancerous cells from healthy ones and how these mechanisms may be targeted by drugs:

  • Abnormal gene expression
  • Stem-cell likeness and de-differentiation
  • Loss of dependence on growth signals
  • Resistance to cell division inhibitors
  • Loss of apoptosis
  • Limitless replication
  • Cancer-promoting inflammation
  • Angiogenesis
  • Immune evasion
  • Genomic instability
  • Deregulated bioenergetics
  • Invasion and metastasis
  • Epigenetic reprogramming
  • Sequencing and related DNA technologies
  • Overview of the Human Genome project
  • Fundamentals of human genetics
  • Oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes
  • The cancer genome as a source of drug targets
  • Omics technologies
  • Fundamentals of innate and adaptive immune responses in healthy tissues
  • Tumor-specific and tumor-associated antigens
  • Immune surveillance
  • Immune evasion
  • Cancer-fighting and cancer-promoting inflammation
  • Tumor microenvironment

An overview of the entire drug development journey, highlighting what is specific for oncology

  • Target Identification & Validation
  • Lead Identification & Optimization
  • Preclinical Research
  • Clinical Trials
  • What differentiates drug development in cancer from other medical indications
  • Classical disease classification
  • Mechanism-based disease classification
  • Network-based disease classification
  • Personalized medicine
  • The multiple roles of biomarkers
  • Tumor-agnostic drug development

A review of various disease models and their contributions to target identification and validation:

  • Cell lines
  • Organoids
  • Xenograft mouse models
  • Patient-Derived Xenografts
  • Genetically Engineered Mouse Models
  • Gene knockdowns, knock-outs and gene fusions

Chemotherapy:

  • Mechanisms of action
  • Classes of chemotherapeutic agents
  • Side effects and management
  • Drug resistance
  • Future outlooks

Radiation Therapy:

  • Types of radiation
  • Mechanisms of action
  • Side effects and management
  • Future outlooks

Hormone Therapy:

  • Mechanisms of action
  • Side effects and management
  • Future outlooks
  • Kinase inhibitors
  • Growth factor receptor inhibitors
  • Proteasome Inhibitors
  • PARP Inhibitors
  • Classes of monoclonal antibodies
  • Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity
  • Complement-Dependent Cytotoxicity
  • Receptor Blockade/Antagonism
  • Inhibition of Signal Transduction
  • Antibody-Drug Conjugates
  • Future outlooks
  • Immunomodulators
  • Checkpoint inhibitors
  • CAR T-cell therapy
  • Adoptive cell transfer
  • Cancer vaccines
  • Universal CAR T cells
  • Other CAR cells
  • Oncolytic visruses
  • Gene editing technologies
  • Synthetic lethality
  • Targeting cancer stem cells
  • Targeting the tumor microenvironment
  • Targeting the epigenome
  • Targeting the microbiome

related courses:

Why attend this course?

This 2-day intensive course provides a comprehensive overview of the key biological and technological advancements driving cancer drug discovery and development.
By attending, you will find answers to all the essential questions that multidisciplinary drug development teams are faced with collectively, such as :

  • What are the different classes of cancer drug targets and the disease mechanisms they are involved in?
  • How are candidate  drug targets identified in oncology?
  • What are the principal milestones in the drug development journey that are  general or specific to oncology?
  • What are the mechanisms of action of the different types of cancer drugs?
  • What are the strong points and the limitations of different cancer disease models?
  • What are the key technologies that enable better disease classification, and a more precise medicine?
  • What are the principal limitations and challenges associated  with the  development of different types of cancer drugs?
  • What are the most promising therapeutic modalities of the future?
  • What are the breakthrough developments everyone is hoping for?

From the discovery of penicillin to the era of personalized medicine, drug discovery and development processes have come a very long way.  Because oncology  is at the forefront of the incredible transformations taking place, the knowledge you will gain in this course will help you navigate all drug discovery and development projects, in all disease areas.

Explore Complex Content With Simple Science Stories

Leveraging on our 15 year-long experience in transdisciplinary life science education aimed at busy professionals, this small group course provides a “toolbox” with all the essential concepts and a springboard to explore with confidence any drug discovery and development project.

Using time-proven visual metaphors, it makes the invisible world of disease mechanisms, drug modes of actions, molecular diagnostics and biomedical research visible and understandable.
By attending this course you will learn how to discuss drug discovery and development issues across all functions.

Who is this course for?

All professionals – scientists and non-scientists – that have a need or interest to understand how our growing understanding of cancer biology and state-of-the-art technologies support cancer drug discovery and development. This includes members of multifunctional drug discovery and development teams and all professionals that cater to them.

This course can be customized to fit the pipeline of any pharma company active in oncology.

Interested? send us a message!