Orientation and the first 6 hallmarks

Readings due before class

Readings should be completed before the actual lecture. The lecture itself is intended to provide a deeper exposition of the material and provide additional insight.

Required

• Please read the Overview for the course and familiarize yourself with the content at OWL.¹

• Please read the Resources for the course.

• The Hallmarks of Cancer Hanahan and Weinberg (2000) Cell. Volume 100, Issue 1.

• Consider the two textbooks The biology of cancer, 2nd edition from R. Weinberg and Molecular biology of cancer, 5th edition from L. Pecorino.

Recommended

• Chapters 1 and 2 of Weinberg, The biology of cancer.

Please make sure that you understand the concept of quiescence and how it differs from normal cell cycle.

• Chapter 5 of RA Weinberg, The biology of cancer.

• Movie about DNA replication

• Coller HA (2011) The essence of quiescence. Science.

Complementary

• Witsch et al. (2010) Roles for growth factors in cancer progression. Physiology

Action items

• Ensure that you are familiar with the OWL course page.

• Using your UWO email acccount, join the Slack workspace at cancer-genetics-uwo.slack.com

Points of reflection

• Throughout the course exercises including assignments, exams and projects, it is expected that you have chosen a specific cancer type, a specific pathway or process, and a specific gene. The gene, pathway and process are ideally of special interest in your chosen cancer type.

• For example, I might choose invasive ductal breast carcinoma with a focus on Akt-mediated signalling and the Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2 (HER2).