Annual Report 2024
Division of Cancer Information Service
Manami Inoue, Yutaka Matsuoka, Chikako Yamaki, Tomoyasu Hirano, Ayako Ishikawa, Ikuo Tamai,Yuko Ogo, Chie Ozawa, Yumiko Saito, Yumiko Sano, Tomoko Takahashi, Haruyuki Nishida, Fumika Horinuki, Asako Mimura, Otome Watanabe, Sonoko Hirose, Atsushi Sekido, Katsuya Tanaka, Maaya Tanabe, Hiroki Okamoto, Sarasa Kai, Ayako Sezaki, Shinsuke Hayama, Sota Nishisako, Chieko Maruyama, Yuri Mizota, Asa Inagaki, Hitomi Danya, Xinyan Zhang, Mingxin Liu, Junko Okuno, Kiyomi Kawase, Masayo Sakurai, Momoko Sato, Kumiko Shiga, Kazunori Nishida, Sayo Miyamoto, Yurie Yamada, Ayako Idekawa, Mayu Okubo, Asuka Kjiwara, Kengo Kanazawa, Kaori Shioda, Junko Suzuki, Maiko Tada, Norie Hiraide, Sayoko Maeda, Riho Matsubara, Kaoru Konno
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, the and 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 practitioners can share the latest set of best practices.
To promote patient and public involvement in cancer researches and programs, the DCIS operates the "Patient and Public Panel," which consists of 100 patients, families and citizens. As a cross-institute project of the ICC, it examined evaluation criteria and priorities for implementing cancer researches.
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 scenario-based cancer information chat-bot employing real cancer counseling data, 3) Developing quality assessment indicators of educational program for CISC cancer counselors and delivering educational programs employing the scheme. 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 2,560 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, 168 certified cancer counselors and 16 certified CISCs were created/renewed in 2024, for a total of 415 and 31, 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 FY2024, 724 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 2024
Journal
1. Fumika Horinuki, Yumiko Saito, Chikako Yamaki, Yasushi Toh, Tomoko Takayama. Healthcare professionals roles in pancreatic cancer care: patient and family views and preferences. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2024 Jun 18:spcare-2024-004921.
2. Chikako Yamaki, Sarasa Kai, Shinsuke Hayama, and Chieko Maruyama. Insights from Medical Professionals in Japan on Serving Patients with Disabilities and the Effectiveness of the Training Workshop. Proceedings of the 9th World Disability and Rehabilitation Conference. (accepted)
3. Saito T, Imahashi K, Yamaki C. The First Use of the Washington Group Short Set in a National Survey of Japan: Characteristics of the New Disability Measure in Comparison to an Existing Disability Measure. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Dec 10;21(12):1643. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21121643.
4. Takashi Saito, Kumiko Imahash, Chikako Yamaki. Functional Limitations and Use of General Health Examination and Cancer Screening Among People with Disabilities Who Need Support from Others: Secondary Data Analysis of the 2022. Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025, 22, 484. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040484