The biological revolution of the 20th century totally reshaped all field of biomedical study, cancer research being one of them. We begin to understand the intimate details of genetics and heredity, of how cells grow and divide, how they assemble to form tissues, and how the tissues develop under the control of specific genes. However, genomic sequences are subject to corruption and mutated genes divert cells into acquiring novel, often highly abnormal properties, such as cancerous growth. The course will focus on principle cell and developmental regulatory mechanisms, such as cell adhesion, cell division, stem cell biology and signalling and will investigate how mutations in key regulatory genes (oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes) can lead to deregulated cellular growth and tissue organisation. The course will conclude with topics on the research avenues for the rational treatment of cancer.