REPORTS ON SEMINARS

The Radiation Oncology Seminar held November 10 to November 12, 1980, was an excellent meeting. Several different topics were covered, and there was adequate time and a sufficiently large group of scientists from both countries to permit in-depth consideration. Most papers were well prepared and presented. The discussions, which occupied approximately one-third of the available time, were friendly but critical and spirited. The physical and radiobiological dosimetry intercomparison studies on proton beams have progressed well. These were the subject of the first four presentations. This aspect will be completed in February or March of 1981 when Dr. Alfred R. Smith (Chairman of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine-AAPM, Charge Particle Beam Dosimetry Task Group) brings Mr. Takeshi Hiraoka (National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan) and Dr. Akira Ito (Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Tokyo) to the United States. This task group is funded by a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to the AAPM and is charged with dosimetry intercomparisons among particle beam therapy facilities in the United States, Japan, Canada, and Europe.

Two other spin-offs from the U.S.-Japan Radiation Program are (1) Dr. Mitsuyuki Abe (Professor, Department of Radiology, Kyoto University), who has been invited to participate on the Program Committee for the "International Symposium on Radiosensitizing and Protective Agents" to be held in Key Biscayne in September 1981, and (2) Dr. Yoichiro Umegaki (Head, Department of Radiology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo), who will serve on the Program Committee for the "Third International Conference on Particles in Radiation Therapy" to be held in Houston, Texas, March 1982.
The Breast Cancer Treatment Symposium, held in San Antonio, highlighted the combined use of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. This area is of increasing interest because of the development of the estrogen receptor assay and new hormonal approaches to the treatment of breast cancer, particularly the anti-estrogen drug tamoxifen. The combination chemotherapy approach to breast cancer is now well established in both countries, and it is hoped that combining the two modalities will dramatically improve survival rates.
Dr. Ogawa presented chemotherapy data from Japan which matched very well with the United States chemotherapy data, indicating that the two countries are using drugs in a similar way and achieving comparable results. The data on hormonal assays in both countries were also comparable.