Xenobiotics and Cancer

Code:

MO17

Acronym:

XC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Health Sciences

Instance: 2023/2024 - 2S (of 12-02-2024 to 31-05-2024)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Microscopy
Course/CS Responsible:	Master Degree in Oncology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MO	4	Oficial plan since 2023	1	-	3	21	81

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students
Obs.: Inglês, se necessário | English, if needed

Objectives

The student should be able to understand the relevance of xenobiotics in the etiology of cancer to humans and animals, knowing how to identify which classes / types of xenobiotics are most associated with cancer.

It should be able to identify the most common modes of exposure (occupational, environmental, accidental, iatrogenic) and the fate of xenobiotics in organisms (terrestrial and aquatic), systematizing the general mechanisms of activation and detoxification of chemical carcinogens.

They should understand strategies, namely experimental (in vitro and in vivo), for the evaluation of xenobiotics as mutagenic and / or carcinogenic agents.

They should know the pros and cons of the most commonly used model species in experimental chemical carcinogenesis.

The student should be able to, by itself and in group dynamics, present and discuss critically the focused topics, making descriptive and schematic syntheses.

Learning outcomes and competences

The students should know, understand and be capable of putting into an integrated perspective the thematic of xenobiotics and cancer - from the identification of the types of xenobiotics that are directly or indirectly relevant to cancer, to how those compounds can contact and be uptake into the body.

Also they should understand the type of toxicokinetics that such compounds may have in the body, and ultimately the dynamic mechanisms that are at the basis of the mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. 

Understand, in a broad perspective, the role of xenobiotics as a cause of vertebrate cancer, including humans.

Know classic versus alternative study models in chemical carcinogenesis.

In practice, familiarize yourself with some techniques and models (in vivo and in vitro) applicable to the study of the association between xenobiotics and cancer.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Xenobiotics as a cause of cancer in humans and animals.

Sources, classes of xenobiotics, exposure (environmental, occupational, accidental and iatrogenic.

Exposure and fate of xenobiotics in organisms; considering phylogenetic differences.

Metabolism, bioactivation, detoxification of xenobiotics (from fish to man).

Xenobiotics as mutagenic and carcinogenic agents; the IARC classification

General mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis.

Experimental study of chemical carcinogenesis, in vivo and in vitro; classic models vs. alternative and emerging models (eg zebrafish).

Hormones and cancer. Hormone-dependent neoplasms; mammary carcinogenesis in humans and spontaneous animal models.

Concept of endocrine disruptors and their association with carcinogenesis - laboratory and epidemiological studies.

Xenobiotics and hepatocarcinogenesis - Human studies and in vivo and in vitro models.

Hands-on lab sessions:

1. In vivo models (zebrafish embryo assays);

2. In vitro models (2D and 3D cell culture assays, genotoxicity, mutagenesis);

3. Image analysis in evaluating lesions from chemical carcinogenesis.

Mandatory literature

Bal-Price A., Jennings P.; In Vitro Toxicology Systems (Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology)., Humana Press., 2016
Curtis D. Klaassen; Casarett & Doull's Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, 9th Edition, McGraw-Hill Education / Medical, 2018. ISBN: 9781259863745
Patricia McGrath ; Zebrafish: Methods for Assessing Drug Safety and Toxicity, Wiley, 2012. ISBN: 047042513X
Michael H Dong; An Introduction to Environmental Toxicology (Fourth Edition), CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018. ISBN: 1979904510
Miriam C Poirier; Carcinogens, DNA Damage and Cancer Risk: Mechanisms of Chemical Carcinogenesis, World Scientific Publishing Company, 2018. ISBN: 9813237198
Sean A. M.; Animal Models in Cancer Research and Human Disease: Applications, Outcomes and Controversies. Nova Biomedical Books., 2013

Teaching methods and learning activities

Teaching with expositive lectures and via active learning, implying that students are called to participate in class activities. Strategies include question-and-answer sessions, integrated discussion, hands-on lab activities, practical learning situations, synthesis work, mental map building, diagrams and graphs. Semi- or non-directive teaching uses strategies for active and cooperative learning, namely in problem solving, literature analysis, with the student playing an active role.

keywords

Health sciences > Medical sciences > Veterinary medicine > Animal toxicology
Health sciences > Medical sciences > Medicine > Oncology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	30,00
Participação presencial	70,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Frequência das aulas	21,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

According to the rules in force (3/4 of compulsory attendance in classes).

Calculation formula of final grade

The assessment is by continuous processes with final test, taking into consideration attendance, commitment, professional attitude and quality of intervention, as well as indicators of the work in class (commitment and active participation in the preparation, presentation and discussion of lectures and summaries and in the elaboration of short pratical reports of laboratory procedures).

Students-Workers (with formal status) who foresee incompatibility between their professional activity and the participation in class work, for the purpose of continuous assessment, are advised to contact the Regents at the beginning of the semester, in order to consider the possibility of alternative evaluation methods.

Final Grade = Continuous Assessment (70%) + Multiple Choice Exam (30%).