Course syllabus
Welcome to the course in Cell and Tumour Biology!
Welcome to the course!
The Cell and Tumor Biology (CTB) course is a 7,5-credit course targeting advanced students in the Pharmacy program, various Master programs and freelance students with the appropriate educational background. CTB aims at providing deep knowledge into Tumor Biology, by explaining a) mechanisms that a normal cell needs to circumvent to become a tumor cell, b) concepts and functions of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, c) mechanisms of interaction between tumor cells and the surrounding microenvironment, d) processes of invasion and tumor metastasis, and e) the impact of viral infections and chronic inflammation on cancer development. The course utilizes current research problems to illustrate different cell biology-related phenomena and their applications within tumor biology. The course also gives insight into current research activity and methodology within the field of tumor biology.
Teaching will be performed with lectures, complemented with training on scientific communication during mandatory seminars. The students read selected texts from the course literature and present short summaries for other class members. Presence at the course call is mandatory. All teaching is performed in English.
Recommended literature:
The biology of Cancer, by Robert A. Weinberg, first, second or third edition, Garland Science.
Lecturer handouts.
All course materials can be found under the listing Modules on the left side margin of the Studium page.
Starting the Course
The course will start on Monday, the 23rd of February, 2026 at BMC with Roll call and Introduction and ends with a written exam. Course registration takes place after the mandatory roll call. The course syllabus is listed below.
The course is given by the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology. With questions, feel free to contact the course leaders.
Course leaders: Anna-Karin Olsson and Aristidis Moustakas
Course administration: Sofie Berggren
On behalf of all teachers, welcome to the course!
Anna-Karin Olsson and Aristidis Moustakas (Head teachers, responsible for the course content)
Course Registration
The students of Master's Programme in Medical Research can register themselves to the course during the period of 2026-02-09 - 2026-02-22 via "Ladok for Students". If you may experience any problems, please contact your Programme Director: Gerli Pielberg
Students belonging to other programmes and freestanding students will be registered by our administrator after their presence at the course Roll Call.
Syllabus
An information page about the course, including credits, requirements and overviews of content and learning outcomes is available here in the university course catalogue.
Seminars
During the course we will have two mandatory seminars. These are based on chapter 13 (seminar I) and chapter 11 (seminar II) in the course book “The Biology of Cancer” by Robert Weinberg. At the end of the chapters there are a number of questions that we will discuss. You will be divided in four groups. The seminar assignment is done in three steps: 1) you read the text and prepare answers to the questions at the end of the chapter by yourself, 2) you meet with your group during the specified time to discuss answers to the questions and 3) you attend the obligatory teacher-led seminar where each group presents their answers to the questions together. At the seminar we expect everyone to make an active contribution to the discussion.
Exam
The course exam will be held 2026-03-24 (the exact time and place available in "Ladok for Students"). Please note that the exams start at the full hour and not quarter past (e.g. 8:00 instead of 8:15) and the exams are held at specific exam halls that may be located outside your campus area! Furthermore, do not forget to take an ID (that has your photo in) and your student account login with you on the exam day! You are allowed to take with you something to eat and drink to the exam table/computer.
You need to register for the exams at least 12 days beforehand. You will be able to see the registration periods and do the registrations in "Ladok for Students", which you can find the link to on the left side.
Please take a look at the information on digital exams, there you will see how to log into the digital examination system "Inspera" and you will find guidelines to the "test" exam - it's good to try out the system before the actual exam occasion:
Information - digital examination
Support for disabilities
If you are in need for special support during the exam, please inform your Programme Director as soon as possible after the course start. You need to also notify the need while registering yourself to the exam.
Support for disabilities at UU
Re-exam
The re-exam will be held in August -26