Abstract
Thirty‐one seminars have been held in the 16 years since 1981. A principal interest from the beginning was the genetics of cancer, well before this subject became widely popular. This interest arose in part because of marked binational differences in type‐specific cancer rates, such as the very low rates among Japanese for Hodgkin's disease in the young, testicular cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, superficial spreading melanoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and Wilms’ tumor (half the U.S. frequency). Three seminars were devoted to the seeming reciprocal relationship between B‐cell lymphoma (low in Japan) and certain autoimmune diseases (high in Japan), which is perhaps similar in origin to the male/female differences in the rates for these diseases. A seminar on Li‐Fraumeni syndrome led to the recognition of cases among Japanese pedigrees brought to the meeting, and generated a study of its occurrence in Japanese families with adrenocortical carcinoma in a child. Another seminar revealed a marked clustering of rare cancers in Werner's (premature aging) syndrome in Japan, and led to a binational study and analysis of case‐reports worldwide. Three seminars on pathology heightened appreciation of the importance of subclassifying cancer by subsite and subtype for racial and other comparisons. Four seminars on biostatistics in cancer research generated a substantial exchange of specialists and trainees in this field.
Keywords: Cancer, Genetics, Neoplastic syndromes, Demography, Racial stock
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (410.1 KB).
In honor of Haruo Sugano, M.D., on his 70th birthday.
REFERENCES
- 1. ) Purtilo , D. T. and Sullivan , J. L.Immunological bases for superior survival of females . Am. J. Dis. Child. 133 , 1252 – 1253 ( 1979. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2. ) Miller , R. W. , Oilman , P. A. and Sugano , H.Differences in lymphocytic diseases in the United States and Japan . J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 67 , 739 – 740 ( 1981. ). [Google Scholar]
- 3. ) Kadin , M. E. , Berard , C. W. , Nanba , K. and Wakasa , H.Lymphoproliferative diseases in Japan and Western countries . Hum. Pathol. 14 , 745 – 772 ( 1983. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4. ) Sondel , P. M.Tumor immunology and pediatric cancer . In “ Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology ,” 2nd ed. , ed. , Pizzo P.A. and Poplack D.G. , pp. 92 – 93 ( 1993. ). J.B. Lippincott; , Philadelphia . [Google Scholar]
- 5. ) Ikehara , S.Intractable diseases and bone marrow transplantation . Pathol. Int. , 44 , 817 – 826 ( 1994. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6. ) Miller , R. W. and Sugano , H.U.S.‐Japan Cooperative Cancer Research Program report of a seminar on adulttype cancer under age 30 . Gann Monogr. Cancer Res. 33 , 193 – 204 ( 1987. ). [Google Scholar]
- 7. ) Miller , R. W. , Li , F. P. and Sugano , H.The family syndrome of sarcoma, breast cancer and other neoplasms: meeting report . Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 79 , 1155 – 1158 ( 1988. ). [Google Scholar]
- 8. ) Tsunematsu , Y. , Watanabe , S. , Oka , T. , Kawa‐Ha , K. , Hirata , Y. , Yamanaka , H. , Ohira , M. and Ono , M.Familial aggregation of cancer from proband cases with childhood adrenal cortical carcinoma . Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 82 , 893 – 900 ( 1991. ). [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9. ) Greene , M. H.Rashomon and the Procrustean bed: A tale of dysplastic nevi . J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 83 , 1720 – 1724 ( 1991. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10. ) Elwood , J. M.Epidemiology and control of melanoma in white populations and in Japan . J. Invest. Dermatol. 92 , 214S – 221S ( 1989. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11. ) Jimbow, K., Wick, M. M., Kukita, A., Fitzpatrick, T. B. and Hori, Y. (eds.) Proceedings of the United States‐Japan Melanoma and Skin Cancer Seminar on the Biology and Comparative Features . J. Invest. Dermatol. 92 , 199S – 331S ( 1989. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 12. ) Kudo , A. , Blot , W. and Yanagawa , T.Japan‐U.S. conference on biostatistics in the study of human cancer . Environ. Health Perspect. 32 , 1 – 307 ( 1979. ). [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 13. ) Aoki , K. , Hoel , D. G. and Yanagawa , T.The third Japan‐U.S. conference on biostatistics in the study of human cancer . Environ. Health Perspect. 87 , 1 – 182 ( 1990. ). [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 14. ) Blot W. J. , Hirayama T. and Hoel D. G. ( eds. ) “ Statistical Methods in Cancer Epidemiology ” ( 1985. ). Radiation Effects Research Foundation; , Hiroshima . [Google Scholar]
- 15. ) Gardner , M. J. , Snee , M. P. , Hall , A. J. , Powell , C. A. , Downes , S. and Terrill , J. D.Results of case‐control study of leukaemia and lymphoma among young people near Sellafidd nuclear power plant in West Cumbria . Br. Med. J. 300 , 423 – 429 ( 1990. ). [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 16. ) Doll , R. , Evans , H. J. and Darby , S. C.Paternal exposure not to blame . Nature 367 , 678 – 680 ( 1994. ). [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 17. ) Neutra , R. R. , Swan , S. and Freedman , D.Clusters galore . Arch. Environ. Health (abstr.) , 45 , 314 ( 1990. ). [Google Scholar]
- 18. ) Tomatis , L.Transgenerational carcinogenesis: a review of the experimental and epidemiological evidence . Jpn. J. cancer Res. 85 , 443 – 454 ( 1994. ). [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 19. ) London , W. T. and Kitagawa , T.Summary of the U.S.‐Japan seminar on hepatitis B virus and hepatocellular carcinoma, January 29‐30, 1987 . Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 78 , 869 – 874 ( 1987. ). [Google Scholar]
- 20. ) Goto , M. , Miller , R. W. , Ishikawa , Y. and Sugano , H.Excess of rare cancers in Werner syndrome . Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. ( in press ). [PubMed] [Google Scholar]