I am Yasumoto Suzuki of Matsushima Clinic at Matsushima Hospital Coloproctology Center. I have been appointed President of the 57th General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening, which will be held as part of JDDW 2019. I am truly honored to be called upon to lend my services for this meeting steeped in tradition. At the same time, I feel the heavy weight of responsibility for serving the members of the Society.

Malignant neoplasm is the leading cause of death among the Japanese. In 2016, more than 370,000 people died of malignant neoplasm. In particular, the total number of people who die from the four cancers that our Society is involved in, namely, colorectal cancer (the second deadliest cancer with some 50,000 dying from it each year), gastric cancer (the third deadliest cancer with annual mortality of 46,000), pancreatic cancer (the fourth deadliest cancer with annual mortality of 33,000), and liver cancer (the fifth deadliest cancer with annual mortality of 29,000) is approximately 158,000, more than 40% of all people who die from malignant neoplasm. It shows that further effort is required from the members of our Society. The work of reducing the number of deaths from gastrointestinal cancers, however, cannot be accomplished by members of our Society alone. It requires the cooperation of other physicians, public health nurses, clinical radiological technicians, and ultrasonographers. But generally speaking, people have tended to shy away from the work of cancer screening because it is considered difficult. To overcome this hurdle, we have chosen “Bringing in New Blood to Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening!” as the theme of this meeting. We have also designed the program in a way that it will show to those who have shunned this field that cancer screening is interesting and appealing. It may inspire them to go abroad to study how the techniques used for correct cancer screening differ between those techniques used in Japan and abroad.

Dr. Fumiaki Ikeno of Stanford University is scheduled to speak in the Invited Lecture from Overseas, and Professor Shigeru Matsumoto of Rikkyo University, who was also the instructor for NHK’s television program “Basic English for Adults,” will speak in the Special Lecture. We also have theme sessions on “The Current State and Future of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Screening” and “Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening That Minimizes Harm.” For the general session, we plan to give opportunities for public health nurses, clinical radiological technicians, and ultrasonographers to give presentations as well. The sponsored event will also feature lectures on interesting topics. Please look forward to the event.

While maintaining our originality that distinguishes our Society from the others, the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening will work with the four other societies that make up the JDDW to make JDDW fruitful. We hope that participation in JDDW will provide an opportunity for the participants to take interest not only in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, but also in gastrointestinal cancer screening that will become increasingly more important in the future. We sincerely hope that many of you will participate and give presentations at JDDW.