For several years after World War II, between 50,000 and 60,000 people in Japan died from cancer every year. Since then, the number of cancer deaths has increased steadily and became the top cause of death, surpassing strokes, in 1981.

According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare,  336,290 people died of cancer in 2007, accounting for one in every three deaths. Heart diseases, the second biggest killer, accounted for only about half of the number of cancer deaths.

Worldwide, more than 11 million people are diagnosed each year with cancer and about 8 million people die from the disease every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Consequently, JCS must collaborate with global groups engaged in the fight against cancer such as the WHO and the International Union Against Cancer. 

Moreover, cancer deaths are on the rise among men in their 40s and older and women in their 30s and older -- both of which groups are said to be at higher risks than younger people -- and the anti-cancer movement is becoming increasingly important.

Lung cancer became the major cause of cancer deaths among Japanese for the first time in 1998, surpassing stomach cancer, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Lung and stomach cancers were followed by colon cancer (No. 3), liver cancer (No. 4) and pancreatic cancer (No. 5).

While the stomach cancer and uterine cancer death rates declined, in addition to lung cancer, more people are developing breast, colon and prostate cancers. This trend may be a reflection of Westernized lifestyles.  As society continues to age, the number of elderly cancer patients is on the rise. At the same time, cases of multiple primary cancers in which the same patient who overcame the first cancer develops completely different cancers are also increasing. How to deal with these new developments is an important anti-cancer challenge.