MPhil Cancer Studies

Keele University

The recent completion of the human genome project has afforded new and exciting avenues for research that define the genetic basis for human disease. The research seeks to define the molecular basis of cancer and identification of genetic determinants that predispose individuals to particular disease outcomes. Frequently the research groups combine the strengths of collaborations between clinicians and basic scientists, including a focus on primary tissue or patient derived samples. The studies undertaken include both genetics and epigenetics aspects of cancer and a range of cancers (breast, pituitary, ovarian). In addition, funding from the World Cancer Research Cancer Fund has enabled a study of fetal epigenetics as determined from cord-blood samples at term. Increasingly these types of studies adopt a “whole-genome” approach looking at more than 40,000 genes in single experiments. The equipment housed within our genomics lab and through collaborations allows us to perform these types of studies. In addition these studies are reliant on in-house expertise in medical statistics and bioinformatics.