[Japan Adult Leukemia Study Group (JALSG)--twelve years of activities and future direction]

The JALSG was founded in 1987 as the first large scale multi-center study group for adult leukemia in Japan. It has grown up to be an internationally-recognized national group consisting of 66 institutions. Each protocol for AML has recruited more than 300 new cases for the study period of two years, enabling randomized studies. JALSG's studies have been published in international journals and contributed much to evidence-based medicine in Japan. For administrative purposes, an Internet system has been employed with a great success for case entry and data management. Governmental research funding for cancer research has been provided to the chief doctor of JALSG, enhancing its research activity greatly. Future JALSG studies will focus on how to improve the cure rate for adult leukemia by incorporating new drugs and developing new treatment strategies.