The fundamental idea of precision medicine is to offer each cancer patient a treatment approach that is tailored to the unique biology and genetics of their disease.
This two session course provides an understanding of the concepts that underlie precision cancer medicine and both its promise and limitations.
Dr Elaine Vickers – a leading independent educator on the science of new cancer treatments – translates complex and often overwhelming topics into easily digestible and understandable knowledge, using colourful illustrations to explain scientific concepts.
She will explain how far we are able to use precision medicine by exploring the features of cancer we can target now, and where we might get to in the future. She will also look at when precision medicine fails, and why expectations and realities don’t always align.
Course delivery
The course comprises two morning sessions delivered online via Microsoft Teams:
Session One
An introduction to the scientific concepts that underpin the concept of precision medicine looking at the features of cancer cells that we can target, the treatments available, and the tests and technologies needed to match targets with treatments. Includes the example of non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer, where a precision approach is often already used.
Session Two
The session focuses on the limitations and current realities of precision medicine. Elaine describes why a precision approach isn’t always possible, or might not give the best outcome, for every patient. The session closes by exploring progress made in offering a precision-approach with three of the most common cancers: breast, bowel, and prostate, and considering where we go from here.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this introduction to precision cancer medicine delegates will:
- Understand what precision medicine means – the treatments we are currently working with, what we can and can’t target and how immunotherapy fits in.
- Understand the treatments we use in precision medicine: antibody-based treatments; small molecule kinase inhibitors; and immunotherapies.
- Recognise testing methods and potential treatment targets – what we can test for and where to look, testing for mutations and presence of proteins, identifying patterns of mutations and what commercial testing platforms can tell us.
- Appreciate whether or not we understand how to make a good match and why not everyone benefits from a precision-based approach.
- Grasp some of the unsolved questions and limitations in precision medicine.
- Be able to reflect on where we have got to, and where we are heading, with precision cancer medicine for lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer.
Course lead
Dr Elaine Vickers, PhD of Science Communicated Ltd has worked as a cancer educator for over twenty years and has previously acted as science communicator for three of the UK’s leading medical research charities, including four years in the Science Information team at Cancer Research UK.
She is passionate about demystifying the science behind cancer biology and the latest cancer treatments such as kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapies. Elaine is experienced in teaching people with any level of scientific or medical knowledge from cancer patients through to medical oncologists.
Her book, A Beginner’s Guide to Targeted Cancer Treatments, was commended by the British Medical Association book awards. A second edition is due out in 2024.
Audience
This content is ideal for research nurses, clinical nurse specialists, pharmacists, and clinical trials coordinators. It may also be of interest to other healthcare professionals involved in the diagnosis and treatment of people with cancer, including junior doctors.
Course dates
Dates to be confirmed.
Contact us
If you are interested in finding out more about this course, then get in touch with the Newcastle Clinical Skills Academy team.