Example human biology dissertation topic 6:

Critical evaluation of the methods of testing for cancers

Cancer is a devastating illness that not only causes considerable distress amongst sufferers and their families but costs the state significantly through lost work hours, and increased medical costs. Accordingly, testing that indicates the presence of cancers would be enhanced if it could be done cheaply and quickly, for example through blood tests, rather than individualised (and often later-stage) biopsies. This dissertation examines the different possibilities for more efficient and lower cost testing, and applies a critical evaluation of the effectiveness and accuracy of current tests. Further, it makes recommendations for the maximisation of cost effective testing and offers options for the future that could result in significant cost savings for the NHS.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Cree, I.A. (2011) ‘Improved blood tests for cancer screening: general or specific?’ BMC Cancer, Vol. 11, pp. 499.
• Higgins, M.J. et al. (2012) ‘Detection of tumor PIK3CA status in metastatic breast cancer using peripheral blood’, Clinical Cancer Research, not yet published.
• Rink, M., Chun, F. K.H., Minner, S., Friedrich, M., Mauermann, O., Heinzer, H., Huland, H., Fisch, M., Pantel, K. and Riethdorf, S. (2011) ‘Detection of circulating tumour cells in peripheral blood of patients with advanced non-metastatic bladder cancer’, BJU International, Vol. 107, pp. 1668-1675.