COURSE UNIT TITLE

: INTRODUCTION TO PRECLINICAL DRUG SCREENING IN CANCER

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
TRO 5018 INTRODUCTION TO PRECLINICAL DRUG SCREENING IN CANCER ELECTIVE 2 0 0 6

Offered By

Translational Oncology

Level of Course Unit

Second Cycle Programmes (Master's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR GIZEM ÇALIBAŞI KOÇAL

Offered to

Translational Oncology

Course Objective

In the preclinical testing process of converting a compound into a drug, the compound in question must go through testing stages. First, a potential target for treating a disease must be identified. Multiple compounds are then screened, and any that show potential to treat the disease must undergo toxicity testing prior to clinical testing to reduce the potential for harm.
Before testing a drug in humans, researchers must find out if the drug has the potential to cause serious harm, also called toxicity. There are two types of preclinical research defined as in vitro and in vivo. While in vitro studies are carried out using cell lines; In vivo studies are carried out with experimental animals. Pre-clinical studies are not very large. However, these studies should provide detailed information on dosing and toxicity levels. After preclinical testing, researchers review their findings and decide whether to test the drug in humans. Thus, preclinical testing encompasses activities that link drug discovery in the laboratory to the initiation of human clinical trials. (Sources: FDA Preclinial Research website: https://www.fda.gov/patients/drug-development-process/step-2-preclinical-research; Sci Rep 2017; 7: 9109; Nat Rev Drug Discov 2011; 10: 179 187)

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Be able to learn pre-clinical drug evaluations.
2   Be able to learn in vitro anticancer drug screening.
3   Be able to learn cytotoxicity and growth inhibition analysis.
4   Be able to learn the evaluation of tumor spreading processes.
5   Be able to learn in vivo models.
6   Be able to learn alternative models (microfluidic platforms, in silico models) to animal models.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Drug discovery and development process
2 Preclinical drug screening and evaluation: toxicity, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics
3 Anticancer drug screening with NCI60 human tumor cell lines
4 Determination of half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50)
5 Cellular cytotoxicity assays
6 Evaluation of cellular growth inhibition
7 Evaluation of tumor dissemination processes
8 In vivo preclinical models-1
9 In vivo preclinical models-2
10 In vivo preclinical models-3
11 Target identification and characterization
12 Limitations of animal studies in preclinical studies
13 Alternative microfluidic chip platforms to animal experiments
14 In silico modeling of drug-target interactions
15 Discussion

Recomended or Required Reading

Julio Isael Perez Carreon and Jorge Melendez Zajgla. In Vitro and In Vivo Models for Cancer Research. Pp: 148-162. (Doi: 10.2174/978160805016111201010148) In Molecular Oncology: Principles and Recent Advances (Editor: Javier Camacho) (eISBN: 978-1-60805-016-1, 2012 , ISBN: 978-1-60805-611-8)
Sajjad H, Imtiaz S, Noor T, Siddiqui YH, Sajjad A, Zia M. Cancer models in preclinical research: A chronicle review of advancement in effective cancer research. Animal Model Exp Med. 2021 Mar 29;4(2):87-103.
Kersten K, de Visser KE, van Miltenburg MH, Jonkers J. Genetically engineered mouse models in oncology research and cancer medicine. EMBO Mol Med. 2017 Feb;9(2):137-153.
Gargiulo G. Next-Generation in vivo Modeling of Human Cancers. Front Oncol. 2018 Oct 10;8:429.
Van Norman GA. Limitations of Animal Studies for Predicting Toxicity in Clinical Trials: Part 2: Potential Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Preclinical Trials. JACC Basic Transl Sci. 2020 Apr;5(4):387-397.
Suggitt M, Bibby MC. 50 years of preclinical anticancer drug screening: empirical to target-driven approaches. Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Feb 1;11(3):971-81.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Theoretical lectures, reinforcement and discussion of the subjects with in-class activities (presentations and assignments)

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 ASG ASSIGNMENT
2 FIN FINAL EXAM
3 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE ASG * 0.50+ FIN* 0.50
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) ASG * 0.50+ RST* 0.50


Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

Assessment with homework and presentation (Learning outcome 1,2 and 3)
Assessment with the exam (Learning outcome 4,5 and 6)

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Course Policies and Rules

To be announced.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

gizem.calibasi@deu.edu.tr ; 0 232 412 58 35

Office Hours

Tuesday 14:00-15:00

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 0

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12
LO.15555555
LO.2555555
LO.355555
LO.45555555
LO.55555555
LO.65555555