OVERVIEW

The course aims to teach essential notions on the physiopathology of neoplasia, immune system and endocrine organs. A first part provides an insight on the features of hormones and their actions on target cells and essential notions on the analytical methodologies to measure the plasma levels of hormones (hormonal dosage) and on the diagnosis of the endocrine pathologies. A second part will review the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, including natural and specific immunity and stromal cells, their interactions with the matrix, and their role in tumor progression and immune-escape. Another part will recall the mechanisms of B cell responses and generation of antibody diversity, as a pre-requisite to an overview of monoclonal antibodies and their derivatives for cancer therapy. Finally, the course will describe the genetic mechanisms of oncogenesis, innovative approaches of bioinformatic analysis of cancer datasets and the development of cancer targeted therapies.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aims of the course are the knowledge of molecular mechanisms of the generation of neoplasia, the tumor microenvironment, the anti-tumor immune response, the cellular plasticity and complexity together with the factors involved in the immune response, the molecular basis of the use of anti-tumor and immunomodulating drugs, the physiopathology of endocrine organs and their role in the regulation of vital functions.

PREREQUISITES

For an appropriate understanding of the course, students should have already acquired elements of human anatomy and physiology.

TEACHING METHODS

Any Student with documented Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or with any special needs, should contact the Lecturer(s) and to the dedicated SLD Representative in the Department before class begins, in order to liaise and arrange the specific teaching methods so that the learning aims and outcomes may be met.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARICA ARVIGO (President)

GUIDO FERLAZZO (President)

DIEGO FERONE (President)

SILVANO DOMENICO FERRINI

ULRICH PFEFFER

ALESSANDRO POGGI

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam will consist of oral tests, one for each subject. 

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Student knowledge will be evaluated by specific questions on the subjects taught during the classroom lessons. During the test, the ability to correlate subjects, to summarize concepts as well as to critically interpret the acquired fundamentals will be evaluated as well.