About the course

The use of the immune system in cancer therapy is a prevailing ambition in the field. You’ll gain expert knowledge of the numerous ways cancers and the immune system interact so you can learn how cancer immunotherapies are developed. We’ll provide a thorough understanding of immune effector mechanisms and cancer biology. You’ll develop a range of personal skills through self-directed learning and our problem-based approach to teaching.

Alternatively, consider taking our other MSc Cancer Immunotherapy routes:

• MSc Cancer Immunotherapy
• MSc Cancer Immunotherapy with Placement Year

Why choose this course?

• 92% overall satisfaction for Medicine and Dentistry in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES, 2024)
• 9th in the UK for health science (Daily Mail University Guide, 2025)
• You’ll be taught by our expert staff and innovative speakers from the biopharmaceutical industry
• Our modern Science Building provides excellent facilities for laboratory experiments, including DNA and genomic analysis eg QPCR, protein and proteomic science (eg MALDI-ToF), cell culture and Enzyme-based assays, isolated tissue studies and immunohistochemistry
• When you graduate, you’ll be equipped to work in a broad range of fields including medical or pharmaceutical research and development, clinical trials, public health and epidemiology, academia research, medical writing and science journalism, education, or patent law
• We adopt a blended learning approach to teaching, focussing on problem-based scenarios so you can develop strong critical analysis skills. You’ll benefit from exposure to practical techniques and guaranteed laboratory-based research projects
• If successful, you will have the opportunity to undertake an extended 12-month research project
• Allied Health was ranked in the top 25% of UK universities for research impact (Research Excellence Framework, 2021). 

What will I study?

You’ll benefit from the research interests of the Bioscience Research Group. These include studies of the tumour microenvironment and communication with infiltrating immune cells, the methods tumours employ to diminish the effectivity of immune effector mechanisms and how tumours communicate using extracellular vesicles with pre-metastatic sites. We’ll cover topics such as adoptive T cell therapy, tumour-associated macrophages, NK cells, monoclonal antibodies in cancer therapy, vaccines, microbial cancer therapies and immune checkpoint blockade.

Teaching will be delivered through lectures, tutorials and practical classes. You’ll immerse yourself in a research project which utilises problem-based and self-directed learning. You’ll explore case studies to gain a strong critical understanding. Through your research projects, carried out in our innovative Science Building and supervised by world-leading researchers, you’ll be trained in data collection, analysis and its interpretation. You’ll also benefit from expert external speakers from the biopharmaceutical industry.