Recent progress and future direction of cancer epidemiological research in Japan

In 2006, the Cancer Control Act was approved and a Basic Plan, to Promote the Cancer Control Program at the national level, was developed in 2007. Cancer research is recognized as a fundamental component to provide evidence in cancer control program. Cancer epidemiology plays central role in connecting research and policy, since it directly deals with data from humans. Research for cancer epidemiology in Japan made substantial progress, in the field of descriptive studies, cohort studies, intervention studies and activities for summarizing evidences. In future, promoting high-quality large-scale intervention studies, individual-level linkage studies, simulation models and studies for elderly population will be of great importance, but at the same time research should be promoted in well-balanced fashion not placing too much emphasis on one particular research field.