Annual Report 2019
Preface
The National Cancer Center Hospital East (NCCHE) was designated as a “Core new-generation device development center” by the MHLW Japan in FY2019 following the “Advanced Treatment Hospital”, “Clinical Trial Center”, and “Core genome medicine center” designations in 2016, 2015, and 2017, respectively. These four approvals confirm that the NCCHE has top level qualities/functions either in clinical or research activities in Japan.
The NCCHE recorded 9,224 new referrals (excluding second opinion cases), 397.7 for the average number of inpatients/day with a 101.6% bed occupation rate, an average of 1,246 outpatients, and a total of 3,813 surgeries and 178.5 iv treatments/day in FY2019, maintaining the high records seen in recent years. With the installation of new machines, the number of robotic surgeries has increased centered on the field of urogenital surgery, which accounted for more than half of surgeries performed by endoscopic surgery. The numbers of patients receiving ambulatory iv treatment and proton therapy/IMRT are increasing year by year. In regard to patient care, the pharmacist clinic supports detailed patient care and a multidisciplinary support team in the “Supportive Care Center” work on physical/mental support. In the “Ladies Center” launched in 2018, a fertility-preserving system was established this year. Regarding facility maintenance, following the launch of “The Center for New Surgical and Endoscopic Development for Exploratory Technology (NEXT)” in 2017, the NCCHE has started to build a hotel on the premises for new referrals from remote areas or overseas, with launch planned for 2022.
In regard to research activities, various academia-industry collaborations for device development have been achieved based on the designation of “Core new generation device development center”, such as the establishment of systems for capturing images during surgery at nationwide core hospitals that can be used in industry-side development. These capturing systems are being applied to AI navigation surgery and digital transformation in various fields. The clinical/TR support office has been intensively organized in collaboration with “The Exploratory Oncology Research & Clinical Trial Center (EPOC)”, which enables the undertaking of various clinical/translational research projects including many investigator-initiated registration trials considered to be the top level in Japan. With these efforts, the number of publications is increasing year by year in association with many publications as first-authors in top journals such as NEJM, The Lancet Oncology, and Nature Medicine. The nationwide genome screening consortium (SCRUM-Japan) introduced a cutting-edge liquid biopsy panel. More than 20,000 patients have already been enrolled for this program aiming to genotype-match new agent trials, resulting in seven regulatory approvals for new agents. SCRUM-Asia was launched in 2018 followed by new participants from Taiwan and international standardization of a new disease entity was attempted in collaboration with Western countries. For immuno-oncology research programs, various academia-industry collaboration studies are also underway in collaboration with EPOC investigators. Various combination studies with immune checkpoint inhibitors were conducted in which some combinations achieved highly promising efficacy followed by global randomized trials led by several investigators in the NCCHE. The NCCHE/EPOC are planning to have more intensive academia-industry collaborations in the new research building adjacent to the hospital space which will be launched in 2021. These activities are anticipated to provide new agent/device developments, which may achieve our two missions, namely, “To provide the best cancer medicine in the world” and “To develop a world-class innovative cancer medicine”.
Atsushi Ohtsu, M.D., Ph.D.
Director
National Cancer Center Hospital East