Course Description

Cancer immunotherapy is a rapidly advancing field in research and in the clinic, which focusses on the interface between the immune system, inflammation and cancer biology. To advance research in this field an understanding of each of these systems and how they interact to suppress or promote cancer progression is vital. Students taking this class will gain an understanding of how the tumor microenvironment alters and evades the immune system and the contribution of inflammation in promoting cancer progression. This course will serve as an introduction to further studies in cancer immunotherapies.

Topics covered:

• Tumor microenvironment – the interactions between immune cells and cancer cells.
• Polarization of Macrophages and Recruitment of Inflammatory Cells by Cancer Cells.
• Mechanisms of Tumor- Induced Tolerance/Escape from the Immune System.
• Immunosuppression by Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs)
• Innate immune system in cancer and therapies utilizing cytokines and interferons.
• Cancer Vaccines: preventative and therapeutic.
• Viruses and cancer: cancer-causing viruses (eg HPV, HTLV1), oncolytic viruses and use of viruses in gene therapy.
• Anti-cancer antibodies (including ADCs) to target cancer cells.

Learner Outcomes

• Students will list the mechanisms by which cancer cells evade the immune system.
• Students will describe the relationships between viruses and cancer, and give examples of cancer vaccines.
• Students will explain how cancer cells interact with and ‘corrupt’ immune cells in the tumour microenvironment.
• Students will demonstrate how the innate immune system can be utilized in cancer therapy.

Credentials

This course may apply toward the Advanced Cancer Biology Discovery and Biomedical Sciences Curiosity digital badges.

Textbook Information

Cancer Immunology: Bench to Bedside Immunotherapy of Cancers edited by Nima Rezaei

ISBN: 9783662513835 | $159.99

Note: Please remove the textbook at checkout using the appropriate discounts if you do not wish to purchase it.

FAES does not supply the e-book version of this textbook, however there may be an e-book version available through other sources.