[The United States and Japan Cooperative Cancer Research Program]

The U.S.-Japan Cooperative Cancer Research Program was initiated in 1974 between the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), with a view to eventually conquering cancer. The two countries respectively developed cancer research under different academic systems, and, furthermore, the cancers in the two countries show different characteristics from the viewpoint of geographic pathology. The special significance of cooperative study between the two countries with such different backgrounds was therefore mutually recognized. The cooperative program has involved scientific seminars, mutual dispatch of scientists, and exchange of research materials and information, covering specified areas of cancer research. In the program, four major areas for cooperation were established, resulting in an effective and flexible methodology for carrying out cooperative research. These areas were etiology of cancer, biology and diagnosis of cancer, treatment of cancer, and interdisciplinary areas of cancer research. Notable progress was witnessed throughout the ten years of the program. Especially, the program made it possible for a large number of cancer researchers from the two countries to become acquainted with each other through personal contact in cooperative investigations. After termination of the second term in 1983, the program entered into its third five-year period in 1984, and is currently still in progress.