The University of Leicester in the United Kingdom is launching a new one-year taught Masters degree in Cancer Chemistry, the first of its kind in the country.

The pioneering degree will cover courses on new approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment and on the design and synthesis of small molecule cancer drugs, equipping graduates for employment in the pharmaceutical industry and in academia, according to a press release on Monday by the University.

The degree developer, Dr. Paul Jenkins from the Department of Chemistry, who has research expertise in the development of chemotherapeutic drugs, was quoted as saying "I think that this unique course will equip graduates to take part in the exciting and rewarding field of anti-cancer drug development. "

"It will explain the biological pathways involved in cancer and how to design non-toxic small molecules to intervene specifically in these pathways to produce the next generation of cancer drugs," Jenkins said.

The degree, aimed at graduates in chemistry or a related discipline and non-graduates with appropriate experience, will fulfill the need to provide graduates with skills in the chemistry and biology of cancer, and direct experience of some of the very latest research in the field.

The main issue with cancer chemotherapy at the moment is that it is based on selective toxicity of the cancer drug for the tumor cells. This selectivity is never perfect and the treatments have considerable side effects.

One of the newest cancer drugs is Gleevec, a specific non toxic inhibitor of a key protein in a cancer control pathway.

Leicester is a national center for clinical research in the field of cancer. The Chemistry Department is conducting research to develop non-toxic inhibitors of a key check-point enzyme in the cell division process.

Source: Xinhua