The 52nd General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening President Kazuhiko Inoue (Department of General Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School)

It is such an honor to have been named president of the 52nd General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening. This meeting will fully participate in JDDW 2014, which will be held in Kobe from October 23 to 26, 2014, and will take place during the first two days of the JDDW. I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected as president of this prestigious society meeting.

Today, one out of two Japanese people will develop cancer, and one out of three patients will lose their lives as a result. In our country, where the gastrointestinal cancer rate is high, it goes without saying that undergoing screening for gastrointestinal cancer is important. Medical experts must work harder toward performing scientifically proven examinations, in order to help alleviate the death rate of this illness. We will also have to make further efforts to respond to individuals who undergo the examinations with their “fingers crossed”, hoping that no cancer will be found, but who will ultimately require early diagnosis and less invasive treatment. In recent years, basic research and clinical studies regarding the onset of gastrointestinal cancer are regularly conducted and have revealed certain risk factors that can cause this type of cancer. These studies have also newly established or improved gastrointestinal cancer screening methods. Researchers will need to develop a scientifically testable cancer screening system in which all those research outcomes are incorporated.

In achieving these goals, we have chosen the “Near-future of Gastrointestinal Screening” as a focal point of the upcoming meeting. Dr. Hiroshi Saito from the National Cancer Center will deliver a special speech on Gastrointestinal cancer screening - Trends in the world and a prospect in Japan. The meeting will include: two symposiums, titled “The present situation and problem of risk assessment for gastric cancer” and “How should the Helicobacter pylori induced gastritis be managed in the gastric cancer screening?”; a panel discussion, titled “Status quo and problems of organized screening by endoscopy”; and two workshops, titled “Evaluation of CT colonography as diagnostic examination in colorectal cancer screening” and “Subjects to spread the guideline for abdominal ultrasound mass screening”. As an advantage of the JDDW, a number of co-hosted topics will also be discussed. Additionally, Dr. C.R.Teixeira will deliver a presentation on “Results of a colorectal cancer screening program in Brazil” as an invited foreign lecture.

For the success of the JDDW, which attracts over 20,000 participants, I am committed to preserving our identity as the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening and to greatly contribute to the advancement of gastrointestinal cancer screening, all while liaising with the four constituent societies for better management. Although the meeting aims at the field implementation of screening, scientific research as a foundation must come first, as we all know. As this is a great opportunity for our fellow doctors to hold discussions with experts from other gastrointestinal societies, I would kindly ask that you take part in active and fruitful debates and exchange your research outcomes.

In summary, I hope that many doctors will submit presentations in the topics I previously introduced and in the general topics, and I would like to thank our fellow members for their support and attendance in advance.