Annual Report 2019
Division of Cancer Survivorship Research
Miyako Takahashi, Miyako Tsuchiya, Akiko Kimata, Risako Fujita, Hiroki Okamoto, Kyoko Onozawa, Mayumi Saito
Introduction
The missions of the Division of Cancer Survivorship Research are to enhance the quality of life of people with cancer and their caregivers, and to promote social awareness in Japan about cancer survivorship issues.
The Team and What We Do
As for academic research, we deal with various survivorship-related issues experienced by cancer survivors and their caregivers during and after treatments such as employment, education, interpersonal relationships, late effects of cancer treatment, and strategies of implementation and dissemination of research evidence into community settings. In particular, we examine the influence of the Japanese socio-cultural background and health policies on living with, through, and beyond cancer, and try to propose countermeasures based on the research findings.
As for activities to promote social awareness toward cancer survivorship, we plan and implement the educational programs listed in the education section for the general public as well as healthcare providers.
Research activities
The research projects we conducted in 2019 include “cancer and work (both for adult onset and childhood/adolescent and young adult (AYA) onset survivors”, “the evaluation of websites for AYA cancer survivors”, “the development of a survivorship care model”, “cancer and education for childhood/AYA onset cancer survivors”, and “the development of a lymphedema prevention support program for female cancer survivors”. Also, to support childhood/AYA cancer onset survivors, we newly created and published the decision aids for first job seeking on the division homepage (https://www.ncc.go.jp/jp/cis/divisions/05survivor/05survivor_04.html).
This year, we published three research articles in English, nine research articles in Japanese, and one book chapter in Japanese. Also, we conducted two keynote lectures, 10 symposium presentations, and 22 oral/poster presentations at academic meetings.
In addition to the above achievements, we managed an Internet portal site for business people on supporting working cancer patients and survivors, and contributed to the PR for and distributed two guidebooks for employers and mangers published in May 2019.
Education
As for education and academic lectures, we delivered more than 20 lectures in 2019 in answer to requests from universities, academic organizations, local governments, medical associations, and medical institutions nationwide.
As for promoting social awareness of cancer survivorship, we planned and implemented three lecture series, “Community Center Café”, “Gotochi (Local) Café”, and “Cancer Survivorship Open Seminar”, which were open to the public. The Community Center Café program, which is held in a relaxed atmosphere with refreshments, consists of a lecture that takes up various cancer survivorship topics followed by a small group discussion by participants. It provides participants with an opportunity to learn about cancer survivorship issues as well as exchange views with each other. In 2019, we held the Community Center Café once with 30 participants at the Tsukishima Community Center in Chuo Ward, where the National Cancer Center (NCC) is located. The Gotochi (Local) Café, which is the other café program, has the same structure as the Community Center Cafe, but is co-sponsored by our division and healthcare providers from prefectures outside of Tokyo, and focuses on high-priority survivorship issues within the local community. In 2019, we held the Gotochi Café in Kanoya, and 60 people participated. The “Cancer Survivorship Open Seminar”, held in the NCC Tsukiji campus, is a lecture series by researchers and focuses more on academic aspects of survivorship issues. In 2019, we held the seminar three times on “cancer survivorship care in Australia”, “patient and public involvement”, and “cancer survivorship future perspectives”, and approximately 400 people participated. The record of all cafés and seminars are presented to the public via the division homepage. The printed version of the record was sent to all government-designated cancer hospitals in Japan.
Future Prospects
Cancer survivorship research and care practice is indispensable in creating a society in which we can live in peace after having cancer. Our division will conduct research on a wide variety of cancer survivorship issues and propose countermeasures for them. We are going to develop activities in cooperation with domestic and international researchers and practitioners.
List of papers published in 2019
Journal
1. Matsuoka YJ, Okubo R, Shimizu Y, Tsuji K, Narisawa T, Sasaki J, Sasai H, Akashi-Tanaka S, Hamaguchi T, Iwasa T, Iwata S, Kato T, Kurotani K, Maruyama D, Mori A, Ogawa A, Sakurai N, Shimazu T, Shimizu C, Tabuchi T, Takahashi M, Takano T, Tatematsu N, Uchitomi Y, Watanabe C, Fukui T. Developing the structure of Japan's cancer survivorship guidelines using an expert panel and modified Delphi method. J Cancer Surviv, 14:273-283, 2020
2. Suzuki H, Seki A, Hosaka T, Matsumoto N, Tomita M, Takahashi M, Yamauchi H. Effects of a structured group intervention on obesity among breast cancer survivors. Breast Cancer, 27:236-242, 2020
3. Tsuchiya M. Lay people's psychological reactions and helping intention after friends' cancer disclosure: An exploratory analysis using vignettes. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl), 28:e13150, 2019