Supervisors' Names: Issam El Naqa, Colin Crist
Supervisor's Email: issam.elnaqa [at] mcgill.ca
Supervisor's Phone: 514-934-1934 ext. 45302, 514-340-8222 ext 8541
Supervisor's Website:
Supervisors' departmentd: Human Genetics; Oncology
Course number: HGEN 396 (Human Genetics)
Term: Winter 2013-2014
Project start date: January 7, 2014
Project end date: May 1, 2014
Project title: Role of CNVs in Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Project description (50-100 words suggested): Quality of life for patients with prostate cancer undergoing radiation therapy (RT) is compromised by the need for aggressive treatment regimes to achieve better tumour control. However, radiation-induced normal tissue toxicities constitute a major complication risk that negatively impact the quality of life of these patients and derail application of promising hypofractionation (HRT) regimens. Variation in RT sensitivity is known to be an inherited genetic trait. Copy number variants (CNVs) are less numerous than SNPs but they affect larger portions of the genome and are frequently associated with inflammatory diseases. Using state-of-the art molecular biology techniques and bioinformatics tools, we will investigate the role of CNVs and their ability to explain RT sensitivity compared with known SNPs and dose-volume metrics in favorable risk prostate cancer patients who received HRT.
Prerequisite: 1 term completed at McGill + CGPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of instructor.
Grading scheme (The final report must be worth at least 50% of final grade): 50% Report; 40% Lab performance; 10% Oral Presentation
Project status: This project is taken. The professor has no more '396' projects this term.
Ethics, safety, and training: Supervisors are responsible for the ethics and safety compliance of undergraduate students. This project involves: Human subjects; Biohazardous substances.