The molecular biological revolution of the past ~50 years totally reshaped all field of biomedical study, cancer research being one of the front runner. 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 tumor suppressor genes) can lead to deregulated cellular growth and tissue organisation. We will cover intrinsic mechanisms that prevent the rapid progression of cancer, such as DNA repair, apoptosis, tissue organisation and the immune system, and will discuss how the breakdown of these barriers step by step lead to the progression of the disease. The course will conclude with topics on the research avenues for the rational treatment of cancer.