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Three Researchers from National Cancer Center on ‘Highly Cited Researchers 2024’ List

November 22, 2024

Researchers from NCC, Hiroyoshi Nishikawa of the Research Institute and Kohei Shitara of Hospital East were listed on ‘Highly Cited Researchers 2024’ as the most frequently cited researchers in their respective fields, announced by Clarivate on November 19, 2024.

‘Highly Cited Researchers’ are those whose work are cited particularly frequently, considered the top one percent in their specific fields. 6,636 researchers from 59 countries and regions have been recognized this year.

Reference: Highly Cited Researchers--Clarivate (link to external site)

Hiroyoshi Nishikawa

西川博嘉

Hiroyoshi Nishikawa

Chief - Division of Cancer Immunology, Research Institute

Chief – Division of Cancer Immunology, Exploratory Oncology Research & Clinical Trial Center (EPOC)

Award category: Immunology

Dr Nishikawa has studied the mechanisms of anti-tumor immune response suppression in cancer immunity. In particular, he has found that genetic mutations in the cancer cells themselves play a critical role in the establishment of immunosuppressive networks, including CD4 positive regulatory T (Treg) cells, and advocates the “immunogenomic cancer progression theory” and is working to realize immunogenomic precision medicine. He also found that CD8-positive killer T cells, which are important for anti-tumor immune responses, are suppressed by regulatory T cells depending on the nature of the antigen (self vs non-self) as recognized by the T cells. These findings are extremely important for understanding not only tumor immunity, but also various immune responses such as autoimmunity, allergies, infection and transplant-related immunity.

Kohei Shitara

設楽紘平

Kohei Shitara

Chief - Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Hospital East

Staff physician - Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Hospital East

Staff physician - Division of Experimental Therapeutics (Kashiwa), Exploratory Oncology Research & Clinical Trial Center (EPOC)

Award Category: Clinical Medicine

Dr. Shitara has been actively engaged in clinical research for the development of novel therapies for gastrointestinal cancers. In particular, he has reported the results of pivotal clinical trials of new agents for gastric cancer in The New England Journal of Medicine　（NEJM）, The Lancet, Nature, Lancet Oncology, etc. as the first author or corresponding author, and these resulted in the approval of three new drugs (trastuzumab deruxtecan, nivolumab, FTD/TPI, and zolbetuximab) for gastric cancer. In 2024, he reported updated survival results from phase 3 trial of zolbetuximab as a claudin 18.2 targeted monoclonal antibody in NEJM. In also, he published biomarker analysis from two pivotal studies (DESTINY-gastric01 and PARADIGM) in the Nature Medicine. He has also led many investigator-initiated clinical trials including first-in-human studies or trials for novel combination therapies. He has also been involved in translational research with collaborators overseas. As an international coordinating investigator, he is leading six global studies, including clinical trials investigating the combination of immunotherapy and molecular targeting agents based on the results of an investigator-initiated clinical trial and a global trial of a new agent for claudin 18.2.

Takayuki Yoshino

吉野孝之

Takayuki Yoshino

Deputy Director, Hospital East

Head, Division for the Promotion of Drug and Diagnostic Development, Hospital East

Chief, Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Hospital East

Award Category: Clinical Medicine

Dr. Takayuki Yoshino has been actively engaged in clinical research for the development of novel therapies for gastrointestinal cancers. In particular, he has reported the results of pivotal clinical trials of new agents for colorectal cancer in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, etc. As the principal investigator of the SCRUM-Japan MONSTAR-SCREEN, the nationwide cancer genome screening project in collaboration with industry and academia, he has led many investigator-initiated clinical trials aimed at approval of new drugs and diagnostic products and achieved approval of multiple new drugs and diagnostic products. He is also involved in many translational research projects in collaboration with research institutes and researchers both within and outside the facility. In 2022, he was the first Japanese person to be elected to the ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Plenary Session. He has been appointed the Chairman of Japan Society of Clinical Oncology (JSCO) since October 2023.