The National Cancer Center, consisting of a research institute, hospital and administration department, was established in 1962 at Tsukiji, Tokyo, by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as the sole National Government-supported cancer center in Japan. Since its establishment, the research institute at the National Cancer Center has been the nation's leading cancer research institution and also one of the leading cancer research institutes worldwide. In 1993, a wing of the research institute, the National Cancer Center Research Institute East, was opened at Kashiwa, Chiba, on the same grounds as the National Cancer Center Hospital East. The institute has had two basic and unifying purposes since its establishment: to achieve cancer control by close collaboration with hospitals and the government, and to serve as the core institute promoting cancer research in Japan.

The National Cancer Center currently has the role as the core institution to implement the Japanese government's "Comprehensive 10-Year Strategy for Cancer Control," and the third term of this strategic plan began in 2004. The aim of this program is to bring about a substantial decrease in cancer incidence and mortality within a period of ten years. Progress in research, the practice of cancer prevention, screening for cancers, and improvement of medical care throughout the nation are the cornerstones on which the potential success of this program is firmly based. The Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening was established in the Tsukiji campus in 2004 and the Research Center for Innovative Oncology was established in 2005 by reorganizing the National Cancer Center Research Institute East, in order to promote the development of novel cancer medicines based on the fundamental and clinical research conducted at the Kashiwa campus; the activities of these new research centers are considered to be indispensable for the success of the Third-Term Comprehensive 10-Year Strategy. Additionally, the Center for Cancer Control and Information Services was established in October 2006 in order to strengthen our extramural activities, including dissemination of accurate information on cancer treatments to patients.

The "Annual Report" of the Research Institute was first published as a joint 1992-1993 report, and has been published annually ever since; the report summarizes the research activities of each division, section and project in order to apprise the international scientific community of the progress made at the institute. From the year 2002, the chapter "Overview of Research Activities," was added, in order to make it easier for the research activities undertaken at our Institute as a whole to be better understood. The present "Annual Report" summarizes our research activities in 2007. The contents of the annual reports and a list of the most recent publications can also be viewed on the National Cancer Center home page (http://www.ncc.go.jp/en/nccri/index.html). The research topics and activities of each division, section and project are described on the National Cancer Center home page.

I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the support we have received from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, other governmental organs, including the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and also from private organizations and individuals. I would especially like to acknowledge the important support we have received for our research activities from the Third-Term Comprehensive 10-Year Strategy for Cancer Control and the Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

March, 2008