Annual Report 2018
Preface
The National Cancer Center Research Institute (NCCRI) was established in 1962 as one of the main parts of the National Cancer Center (NCC), and has been driving cancer research in Japan ever since. The NCC was then designated a National Research and Development Agency in April 2015. Since then, there has been more demand than ever to promote research and development and to maximize clinical outputs. To meet such demand, the NCCRI has been collaborating closely with NCC Hospitals, the Exploratory Oncology Research & Clinical Trial Center, the Center for Public Health Sciences, and the Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, the Center for Cancer Genomics and Advanced Therapeutics, and thereby has tried to maximize the transition "from bench to bedside".
In addition to 18 divisions and three independent research units, the NCCRI also contains the Fundamental Innovative Oncology Center (FIOC) that is a core facility for the entire NCC. The FIOC consists of 16 departments, and it runs the NCC BioBank, provides specialized techniques, and also facilitates collaborative work with various private sector companies outside NCC. As of March 2019, the NCCRI has 86 research staff, 88 postdoctoral fellows and 190 graduate students/support staffs, all of whom are dedicated to a wide range of cancer research including prevention of cancer, elucidating the inter- or intra-tumor heterogeneity, identification of diagnostic and therapeutic targets, and development of novel anti-cancer strategies.
Outstanding achievements in 2018 in the NCCRI include the followings:
1) Marketing approval by PMDA of "OncoGuideTM NCC Oncopanel System"
2) Development of a synthetic lethality-based strategy targeting vulnerability of glutathione metabolism in ARID1A-decficient cancer
3) Construction of an early detection system for ovarian cancer with serum microRNA profiles
4) Identification of novel mechanisms of HBV-mediated liver carcinogenesis based on genomic and epigenomic analyses
In collaboration with NCC hospitals, the NCCRI has established the J-PDX library project which consists of large-scale generation of PDX mice from clinical specimens and maintenance of those mice under GLP grade. In addition, the NCCRI is making a repository database of cancer genome medicine in collaboration with the Center for Cancer Genomics and Advanced Therapeutics.
The NCCRI also actively participates in and leads worldwide cancer research collaborations including International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) and International Cancer Proteogenome Consortium (ICPC). We are also collaborating with Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) of National Cancer Institute (NCI) of United States. Furthermore, the NCCRI has started collaborative research to elucidate the carcinogenic mechanism of various cancers with Sanger Center of the United Kingdom and WHO (IARC).
As described above, through enhancing high-quality research and interaction with other institutes, the NCCRI is eagerly generating novel modalities to prevent and conquer cancer.
Hiroyuki Mano, M.D., Ph.D.
Director
National Cancer Center Research Institute