Public Symposium on "Forefront of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention" by Study Area of Cancer Epidemiology (SACE)

This symposium was the first projected for general population to provide comprehensive information on research subjectsin the Study Area of Cancer Epidemiology (SACE) newly established in the Special Priority Area (C) sponsored by theJapanese Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, Sports and Technology. This (SACE) consists of five research branchesfunctionally divided into: 1) Ethnoepidemiology; 2) Cohort studies; 3) Case-control studies; 4) Molecular epidemiology;and 5) Clinical epidemiology.In this symposium eight scientists selected on the basis of these five different research branches presented work in foursections: 1) Ethnoepidemiologic topics regarding the cancer pattern in the world and Japan; 2) Cancer risk factors in generallifestyles analyzed by case-control and cohort studies in Japan; 3) Viruses and cancer with special reference to the originalrelationship between human evolution and virus infection; 4) New strategies of prevention and treatment taking into accountindividual characteristics.The final goal of epidemiological research is to establish a prevention strategy after clarifying risk and protective factorsfor human cancer by long-term observation of large populations. In general, the pattern of human cancers varies withchange in actual exposure to specific carcinogenic agents, e.g., quality and quantity of environmental factors, over time andspace. On the other hand, the biological risk of cancer related to a specific agent varies with genetic background amongdifferent ethnic groups in the world, and even among individuals in the same ethnic group.We human beings have established our own cultures adapting to the given environment in each area in the world.Unfortunately, in some cases, this has had a negative outcome in generating culture-specific diseases. Now we need innovative,comprehensive and multidisciplinary ideas to build up new prevention strategies to fight against cancer. In this symposiumwe presented general information on cancer epidemiology as clearly and succinctly as possible to promote discussion withaudience about goals in the 21st century.