Annual Report 2023
Division of Cancer Information Service
Manami Inoue, Chikako Yamaki, Tomoyasu Hirano, Ayako Ishikawa, Emiko Ando, Yuko Ogo, Chie Ozawa, Yumiko Saito, Yumiko Sano, Tomoko Takahashi, Haruyuki Nishida, Fumika Horinuki, Asako Mimura, Otome Watanabe, Sonoko Hirose, Atsushi Sekido, Hiroki Okamoto, Sarasa Kai, Mutsumi Saito, Ayako Sezaki, Shinsuke Hayama, Sota Nishisako, Chieko Maruyama, Yuri Mizota, Asako Ichikawa, Junko Okuno, Kiyomi Kawase, Masayo Sakurai, Momoko Sato, Kumiko Shiga, Kazunori Nishida, Sayo Miyamoto, Ayako Idekawa, Mayu Okubo, Asuka Kjiwara, Kengo Kanazawa, Kaori Shioda, Junko Suzuki, Yumiko Suzuki, Maiko Tada, Hikaru Taniguchi, Xinyan Zhang, Mina Nakajima, Norie Hiraide, Sayoko Maeda, Riho Matsubara, Yurie Yamada, Mingxin Liu
Introduction
The Division of Cancer Information Service (DCIS) is engaged in activities related to the establishment and maintenance of a system for the provision of cancer information, with three main activities related to the creation of cancer-related information for the general public and medical professionals, support for its utilization, and nationwide dissemination/equalization. It also conducts activities related to tobacco policy recommendations and information creation.
The Team and What We Do
We have continued to enhance and update “Ganjoho.jp”, the nation’s trusted source of cancer information with approximately 5,000 pages, and the annual usage is now at 49 million PV. For the website for the general public, we created and updated 112 titles. All of our patient education publications, in either booklet or pamphlet formats, are available for free download online and hard copies are disseminated via a bulk order printing scheme, making it more cost-effective for cancer care facilities and related healthcare providers of all sizes.
The DCIS continues to act as a hub that brings together the over 2,000 specialists that run the 456 Cancer Information & Support Centers (CISCs) deployed nationwide, with a biannual conference for prefectural CISC leadership, where we practitioners can share the latest set of best practices. In response to the updated Guideline for Designated Cancer Care Hospitals this year, the best ways for fulfilling CISCs’ expected roles and good practices were discussed.
Research Activities
As part of our multi-year efforts to devise a more sustainable model for operating a national Cancer Information Service (as well as the CISC network), research programs are ongoing in the following areas:
1) Strategic review of the information portfolio to better define core/non-core domains, ways to further standardize both the content structure and the editorial processes, and opportunities and processes to better leverage other stakeholders (e.g., cancer academic societies and support groups) in collaborative production and load sharing,
2) Developing viable assessment scales for CISC activities,
3) Developing CISC support tools that enhance their ability to seek reliable information in a shorter period. Additionally, through government commissioned projects, we collected and analyzed information about the implementation status of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Parties, and technical support for research, surveillance and reporting of the Parties was provided.
Education
The cancer counselor specialists that staff the nationwide network of CISCs undergo both e-learning curricula (delivered via a site we operate) and on-line groupwork training sessions. Basic training for counselors (1), (2), and (3) and training for supervisors as required by guidelines for designated cancer hospital were provided to 2,061 participants. To address the issue of insufficient supply relative to demand for groupwork training, a team composed of four professional societies and NCC initiated a method of providing these programs. We have operated a certification scheme that visualizes well-trained cancer counselors and well-organized CISCs since 2015. Under this certification scheme, 121 certified cancer counselors and 3 certified CISCs were created/renewed in 2023, for a total of 390 and 32, respectively.
The DCIS has spearheaded efforts to encourage regional networking of CISC professionals, so that a more frequent and pertinent mix of skill-enhancing opportunities is made available to a broader set of professionals in this still nascent field. The regional CISC training forums, now in their twelfth year, were conducted online in seven regions; they have also become regionally self-sustaining, with an agreed-upon model to jointly manage annual programs with rotating venues.
We have also added public libraries to our dissemination channel with the donation-funded initiative “Cancer information gifts” – not only providing cancer information booklets and leaflets but also ensuring that reference librarians can put their users in touch with local CISCs when and where this is deemed desirable. As of the end of FY2023, 679 public libraries throughout the nation have joined this network, and our networking venues, which bring interested librarians and CISC counselors together in half-day forums, have taken place online. The fifth anniversary forum was held to thank the supporters and promise the future development of this project.
Future Prospects
While the DCIS remains committed to our stated aims of bringing more accurate and reliable information to patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare practitioners in a context-sensitive manner, we are constantly challenged by the need to keep abreast of the rapid proliferation of new information in all related fields from treatment through to survivorship, while running a tight ship within the constraints of a publicly funded agency. Considering this challenge, we endeavor to incrementally evolve both our production model and the CISC framework, to better leverage the capabilities of various extramural partners, to arrive at a more sustainable set of processes and services.
List of papers published in 2023
Journal
1. Saito T, Imahashi K, Yamaki C. Use of General Health Examination and Cancer Screening among People with Disability Who Need Support from Others: Analysis of the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. International journal of environmental research and public health, 21:219, 2024
2. Nakai M, Iwanaga Y, Sumita Y, Amano T, Fukuda I, Hirano T, Iida M, Katanoda K, Miyamoto Y, Nakamura M, Saku K, Tabuchi T, Yamato H, Zhang B, Fujiwara H. Long-Term Follow-up Study of Hospitalizations for Acute Coronary Syndrome in Kobe-City and Other Districts Under the Hyogo Smoking Ban Legislation - A Nationwide Database Study. Circulation journal, 87:1680-1685, 2023
3. Hirano T. A battle of heated tobacco sales: transfer discount promotions in Japan. Tobacco control, 2023