INTRODUCTION

The first five-year period of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Cancer Research Program, which began in May 1974, has accomplished the general mission and the original purposes and objectives of the Program as framed by the original organizers. This Third Progress Report provides information on accomplishments made during the period April 1978 through March 1979, and terminates the first phase of the Program.
The Program Area Coordinators have also provided summaries of the activities sponsored by each of the program areas during the five-year period. Special recognition should be given to the Program Area Coordinators and to the numerous Japanese and American scientists who so generously contributed their time, effort, and cooperation toward the great success of this Program. Special acknowledgement is given to the staff members of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), who devoted a great deal of their effort and time toward the Program. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance of Mrs. Jean Cross and Ms. Joyce Douglass.
As joint editors of this Progress Report, we wish to express our gratitude to all of the Program Area Coordinators for the untiring effort, enthusiasm, and dedication they gave to the Program. It is our hope that they have been able to gain as much as they have given to the Program. We are hopeful that the friendly relationships developed with the help of the Program will long endure and continue to contribute toward scientific progress between the scientists of Japan and the United States.