Information Exchange on Cancer Research with North American

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Recent progress on cancer research has revealed that cancer is induced and developed by subverted expression and/or damage of multiple genes. Especially genes called oncogenes and antioncogenes are deeply involved in cancer. These genes, encoding signal transduction molecules for cell growth and regulators of cell cycle, are activated by point mutations and amplifications or missing by deletion in cancer cells. The other genes that are involved in cell-to-cell interaction and cell-to-substrate interaction are likely to be important in metastasis.The knowledge on a molecular basis on cancer is going to be applied for diagnostic and therapeutic benefits. Data on three dimensional structures of the signaling proteins or oncogene products that are activated in cancer are useful to design a molecule that would inhibit growth of cancer cells. Genes that are missing or not properly functioning would be amended by gene therapy. These challenging methodologies would be promising when applied in … More cancer therapy in combination with well established protocols.Basic cancer research and application research that include human genome project, gene manupilation in experimental animals, and development of gene therapy have been highly progressed in the countries in north America, Canada and United States. Progress in Japanese cancer research is also remarkable in the last decade, allowing effective collaboration, information exchange between the scientists of this field in north America and Japan. Therefore, in this International Scientific Research Program, we sent 51 Japanese scientists during the last three years to promote information exchange and collaboration and for presentation of their progresses in the international meetings in north America. Representative topics for information exchange were following.Oncogenes/protooncogenes Antioncogenes TranscriptionSignal transduction Cell cycle regulation Viral oncologyCell adhesion and metastasis Apoptosis Genetic instabilityChemical carcinogenesis Gene manupilation in animals Structural biologyMolecular diagnosis Gene therapy Immuno-therapyRadiation therapy Molecular etiology Less