Group cancer screening began in Japan in 1960 when the Miyagi Prefecture Cancer Society toured the Tohoku region of northeast Japan to screen local residents for stomach cancer, using a ‘mobile clinic’ purchased with funds from the Japan Cancer Society and other organizations. Equipment was later added to screen for uterine cancer. Subsequently the Ministry of Health and Welfare added lung, breast, and colon cancers as targets, and JCS collaborated with these official screening programs. Furthermore, prefectural societies engaged in the fight against cancer, and affiliated to JCS, have established their own screening centers, or conducted screenings together with local medical institutions.

Since its foundation, the prefectural affiliates of JCS (the ‘JCS Group’) have sponsored the screenings of about 300 million people, and this effort has led to the detection of about 340,000 confirmed or suspected cases of cancer.

Across the nation, the JCS Group invites about 12 million people a year, mainly in rural communities, to be screened for cancer. As a result, about 13,000 cancer cases are detected each year. These local societies are independent institutions established to conduct screening for cancer and other diseases. They have joined forces with JCS to fight cancer together.

The ‘Relay For Life’ is an overnight relay-style fundraising event inspired by people’s desire to help themselves. The collected donations go to support cancer research and cancer patients. The aim is also to raise awareness of cancer, and thereby help cancer survivors and caregivers in communities.

JCS is coordinator and co-sponsor of the Relay For Life project in Japan under a licensing arrangement with the American Cancer Society. Following a trial in 2006, the first Relay For Life gathering was held in Tokyo and Ashiya near Osaka in 2007. The number of participants has grown year by year, and in 2010 it brought together more than 36,000 people in a total of 20 cities. JCS expects Relay For Life events in 2011 will be held at about 30 sites across the nation, from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

Relay For Life events are the work of volunteers in local communities. Relay teams are made up of young and old, medical staff, cancer patients and those in good health. Inspired by the saying that cancer cells never sleep, they take turns to walk through the night around parks and sports grounds.

One valuable goal is to collect donations to support cancer patients and survivors, not just in Japan but around the world. Of the total donations, one percent is given to The Global Cancer Fund that the American Cancer Society established to help developing countries fight cancer. The remainder, after paying operating expenses, is used to support JCS activities.

‘Relay For Life’ contributed about ¥28 million (about $360,000) to JCS revenue in 2010. The amount of contributions is expected to rise further as the number of cities hosting Relay For Life events increases. The fund is allocated to fields such as free cancer consultations, and scholarships to train cancer experts.

In 2011, JCS established a ‘Project Mirai (future)’ committee to consider new uses for ‘Relay For Life’ contributions, such as supporting cutting-edge research on developing new medicines and techniques for curing cancer.

The goal of the ‘Pink Ribbon Festival’ is to raise public awareness of the importance of early detection, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Seven years after its launch, the festival drew about 1,500 attendees at symposia and more than 13,000 people to various walk events held in Tokyo, Kobe and Sendai cities in 2010.

JCS is shifting its focus from general advocacy to specific inducements to undergo cancer screening. New activities include helping to publicize public health checks by local governments through mobile phone websites and posters at railway stations. At walk-event sites, JCS also provides mobile breast-screening units equipped with mammograms and hands out coupons for free breast screening. Through efforts like these, the festival contributes to the increase in the number of people being screened for breast cancer. In 2011, the festival was also held in Nagoya City.

JCS provides various kinds of free cancer consultation. One pillar of the program is consultations conducted by doctors specializing in cancer. In 2010, about 3,000 patients and family members had the opportunity to obtain advice and information on cancer from doctors, either through face-to-face meetings or over the telephone. These consultations have brought to light various problems. One question often asked by patients is how to respond when their doctors in charge tell them to choose a course of treatment.

JCS operates a ‘cancer hotline’, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., whereby expert nurses and social workers respond to telephone requests for help from cancer patients, their family members, and others.

The hotline allows patients to voice concerns that they may feel inhibited in expressing to their main doctors, including possible side effects of anticancer drugs, and how to obtain a second medical opinion. The hotline has drawn increasing numbers of callers since its launch in 2006, requiring an expansion of the days and times available for telephone consultation. The number of callers reached almost 9,000 in 2010. JCS expects more than 10,000 callers to the hotline in 2011.

In an effort to foster cancer specialists, JCS started in 1970 a scholarship for young doctors to train and conduct research at hospitals specializing in cancer. By the end of 2011, a total of 160 doctors had trained in cancer as a result of the scholarship.

In order to improve the quality and accuracy of cancer screening, JCS holds annual workshops to train screening experts, including nurses, radiography and mammography technicians.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is renowned for its advanced treatment and research of cancer. In 2010, JCS launched a scholarship program, ‘My Oncology Dream Award’ to enable young doctors to train at the US hospital for one year. After publicly soliciting candidates, JCS dispatched its first trainee to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2011. JCS expects the program will expand steadily in the near future.

The United States is a world leader in cancer treatment, particularly in chemotherapy. JCS is hopeful that US-trained doctors will strive to raise the standard of cancer treatment in local communities. The program is mainly supported by donations raised through ‘Relay For Life’.

To heighten public awareness of cancer and encourage people to take better care of their health, JCS is organizing a series of lectures and seminars to spread knowledge about ways of fighting the disease.

Through its monthly bulletin and its website, JCS provides basic facts about cancer, and such information as government policy and measures to fight cancer. JCS places great importance on prevention. In particular, JCS tries hard to promote screening of five kinds of cancer: stomach cancer; lung cancer; colon cancer; breast cancer; and cervical cancer. JCS also strives to disseminate cancer-related information by producing various brochures and DVDs on cancer.

Month-long campaign for cancer control

In September each year the JCS Group wages a month-long campaign to control cancer. Meetings and events to promote the latest knowledge of cancer prevention, early detection and early treatment are hosted across Japan, culminating in a national convention on cancer control.

From the standpoint of the private sector, JCS has supported the anti-cancer efforts of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. For instance, JCS holds a variety of workshops and symposia where cancer experts share the most up-to-date remedies with frontline medical professionals in an effort to overcome regional disparities in cancer treatment.

JCS is also developing a consultation expertise training program for cancer survivors and their family members who wish to help cancer patients and their families. Through the program, these ‘peer supporters’ will be able to acquire essential skills, information and relevant disciplines for consultation. The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

One out of every two Japanese develops some form of cancer during their lifetime. Although cancer is very close to our everyday life, Japanese people do not have enough knowledge about the disease. One of the reasons why the screening rate is so low in comparison with Europe and the United States is a lack of knowledge and information about cancer. That is why substantial cancer education for young people is desperately needed to fight the disease.

JCS has developed various kinds of educational programs for young people. JCS, for instance, has supported a group of women college students who volunteer to teach classes about cervical cancer at senior high schools. JCS believes that vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) and screening will reduce the number of cervical cancer patients, and for this to happen, people need to be enlightened about the risks of developing this form of cancer. That is Why JCS produces and distributes pamphlets, posters and DVDs containing the latest information about HPV and cervical cancer.