Over the past 30 years there have been substantial structural changes, with increases in the number of Divisions and a significant turnover of scientists and supporting members. There are 18 Divisions, each consisting of 2 to 4 Sections. In addition, there are two Sections which do not belong to any Division and 2 central core laboratory facilities. Since its establishment, the basic and unifying purpose of the institute is, obviously, to achieve cancer control by close collaboration with hospitals and all of the scientific disciplines concerned, and by acting as the central core research institute for the promotion of cancer research in Japan. There were two major areas of progress in 1995. The first was in molecular oncology, based on advances in molecular biology, and the second was in the area of information and image analysis, supported by the development of commuter science. From 1995 the activity of each Division has been formally evaluated every year by an evaluation committee, consisting of 5 members from outside the institute and 1 member from inside the institute.
In 1966 the Research Institute began publishing an annual "Collected Papers," in which all of the articles published by the institute were compiled in book form. As the number of articles rose, the number of pages increased. Since reprints and copies are now readily available, it was decided to discontinue publication of "Collected Papers" after 1992. Reprints of all the articles published every year have been collected and bound together, and are maintained in the National Cancer Center Library. Since the first publication in December, 1994, the "Annual Report" has been published every year to summarize the research activity of each division and section and to outline our progress to the worldwide scientific community. The present "Annual Report" summarizes the research activity of the Institute in 1995. Small booklets, "Selected Papers Published in 1995," in which the titles of 100 representative papers are listed, are now available. The preparation of these publications could not have been achieved without the intense efforts of all of my colleagues at the Institute.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the support we have received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, other governmental organizations including the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and the Agency for Science and Technology, and from private organizations and individuals. Not to be overlooked is the importance of the support we have received for our research activities from the Second Term Comprehensive 10-Year Strategy for Cancer Control and Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan.
March, 1996
Masaaki Terada, M.D.
Director, National Cancer Center Research Institute
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