Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology

Figure 2. Six people, who are the youngest of the staff of each hospital divisions, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the new hospital.

This new building, located on the premises of NCC Tsukiji campus, is 19 stories high, and 600 beds for the patients with cancer and allied diseases. Outpatient practice has started since January 4, 1999. A highly computerized system for ordering and reservation for examinations is another characteristic of the new building. Some of the patients, especially those before computer generations, are a little bit puzzled. But the hospital staff are rather surprised that they are accustomed to it very rapidly with only small assistance.

H. Asamura

Cancer Statistics Digest All Cancer Incidence Rates in Japan Trends in age-specific incidence rates from all sites of cancer in Japan are shown. Age-specific incidence rates for males are higher in age-groups over 50 but lower in age-groups 40-49 than those for females. Incidence rates for age-groups over 80 show remarkably increasing trends. W. Ajiki and S. Yamamoto Source: The Research Group for Population-based Cancer Registration in Japan, 1998

Viewing the News from Abroad

Can Reducing Caloric Intake also Help Reduce Cancer?

In a recent meeting of the Society of Toxicology in Reston, Viginia, USA, the role of diet and caloric intake in aging, obesity and cancer was a hot topic (JNCI 1998;90:1766-7). Evidences are now accumulating that reductions in caloric intake of 30% to 40% (eliminating one meal a day) in rodents and non-human primates appear to greatly reduce the incidence of cancers and is the only proven method of extending life span. The first study that looked at cancer and caloric reduction was done in France in 1909. Recent studies demonstrated that 10% caloric reduction in rats reduces tumor incidence, multiplicity, weight and burden. With a maximal 40% reduction in calories, most tumors in rodents disappear. The mechanisms by which caloric restriction works and the number of beneficial effects are of great research interest. Up regulation of DNA excision repair capacity and reduction of free radicals in the body may be the mechanisms of reduced cancer incidence. Although the composition of the diet used in various animal studies differ from each other, caloric restriction worked in all experiments in extending life span. Regarding cancer, oxidation appears as a major factor of cancer as one ages. During his keynote address in the meeting, Bruce Ames, Ph.D. estimated that each individual is bombard with 1 kg of free radicals per year of oxygen free radicals and that an average cell takes 100,000 oxidative hits per day. This number increases as a person ages. This phenomenon is particularly apparent in the USA where a population eats what it pleases. Ames calculated pollution contributes only about 1% of all causes of cancer and that smoking contributes about 30%, while diet contributes 35%. Lack of vitamins B6 and B12 and other micronutrients in the diet seems responsible for the chromosome breaks which may be passed to the offspring. It appears very important to obtain a better understanding of how caloric restriction works.

Proton Therapy Faces High Hurdles to General Use

By shooting high-energy, charged particles into the body, proton therapy offers cancer patients the promise of greater specificity and fewer side effects than conventional radiation therapy which uses high-energy photons such as X-rays. Because protons are a charged mass, the energy dose they deliver increases as they slow down and the slowing protons are more able to interact with the electrical charges in the tissue surrounding them, culminating in a large burst of energy when they stop. The distance which the protons penetrate can be precisely determined by the starting energy.

Although the advantage of proton therapy is well known, high start-up costs and a lack of clinical data have slowed its general use (JNCI 1998;98:1768-9). Today only two clinical treatment centers operate in the USA, one in Loma Linda University in California and another in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston which will open in the spring of 1999. Midwest Proton Radiation Institute in Indiana is still in the planning stage.

One reason why the proton therapy centers are so scarce is its formidable start-up costs which are in the tens of millions of dollars. Even in an era of high government support for health science, the costs are extreme.

Another reason is the lack of clinical trials. So far proton therapy has been applied to brain and spinal column, where damage to the surrounding tissue can have severe consequences, and for certain malignancies of the eye, where proton therapy can sometimes save the organ and sight. Although Loma Linda has treated prostate cancers, outside of the head and neck area, not many good clinical trials have been done to prove or disprove the therapy's cost-effectiveness. Despite these scepticism, it is expected that more proton therapy centers will be built, making this technology more accessible to the patients. A proton therapy facility is now operating in Japan at the National Cancer Center Hospital East.

Compiled and edited by K. Mukai

Announcements

VII International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma

Date: June 2-5, 1999
Location: Palazzo dei Congressi, Lugano, Switzerland
Deadlines:
Submission of Abstracts - January 31, 1999
Early Registration - March 31, 1999
Closing Date Registration - May 20, 1999
Further information: Mrs Olga Jackson (Conference Secretariat)
via Fusoni 4 - 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
Tel: +41 91 921 45 61
Fax: +41 91 921 45 63
E-mail: lymphcon{at}dial.eunet.ch

1st Milan Breast Cancer Conference

Date: June 17-19, 1999
Organizer: European Institute of Oncology and the European School of Oncology
Chair: U. Veronesi and A. Goldhirsch
Conference Venue: Quark Hotel, Milan, Italy

For information: European School of Oncology,
Viale Beatrice D'Este 37, Milan, Italy
Tel: + 39 02 58317850
Fax: + 39 02 58321266
E-mail: esomi{at}tin.it

Pan-Pacific Lymphoma Conference

Date: July 20-23, 1999
Location: The Hyatt Regency Kauai, Hawaii, USA
Sponsor: The University of Nebraska Medical Center
Further information: Center for Continuing Education
University of Nebraska Medical Center, 985651
Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5651, USA
Tel: +1 402 559 4152
Fax: +1 402 559 5915
E-mail: conteduc{at}unmc.edu

To include information of upcoming cancer-related events in the News Section, please send details, including the title, date, place, organization, contact name, address (fax number and e-mail address if any) to the news department of the editorial office of JJCO who also welcome suggestions for news stories. Items in this section are selected for publication and edited by the editorial office at their discretion.

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