IV. INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM AND COORDINATION AREA

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

For this meeting, we tried to use a formula that has worked well for our other binational meetings. Selected for discussion was a neglected disease that we knew or suspected had a dissimilar frequency of occurrence in the two countries. We chose participants who knew some aspect of the subject but who often did not know one another, and we compiled in advance a book containing abstracts and relevant reprints from each of the meeting participants. As a result, presentations were shorter and discussions were longer than usual.
Seminars and Workshops:
Before the International Cancer Congress, a workshop was held in Seattle on differences in the frequencies of occurrences of lymphocytic diseases in the two countries. An earlier meeting on this subject in March 1981 had opened several areas of great interest. At the Seattle meeting, additional areas were explored and interim progress was described. The chairmen of this meeting were Dr. Marshall E. Kadin of the University of Washington in Seattle and Dr. Mizu Kojima of the Tsukuba University. A summary of the proceedings, to be published in the journal Human Patholo, indicates that, as noted at the earlier meeting, there are differences between the two countries in the frequencies of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and nodular lymphoma (almost absent in Japan) and certain, but not all, autoimmune diseases (much higher frequencies in Japan). In addition, some lymphocytic diseases that are or were rare in the United States are more common or even occur as epidemics in Japan, e.g., necrotizing lymphadenitis, which affects particularly women residing in northern Japan who are 20-35 years of age; Takatsuki's disease, which is characterized by plasma cell dyscrasia; endocrine abnormalities and polyneuropathy; and mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (Kawasaki's disease). Takatsuki's disease resembles, but is distinct from, Castleman's disease; it is a disorder with multicentric lymphadenopathy, angiosclerosis, sheets of interfollicular plasma cells, and sinus histiocytosis in clearly defined lymphatic sinuses. At the meeting, several people who reported on necrotizing lymphadenitis realized that in each group several of the patients were hospital workers. The possibility that the disease arises from exposures in the hospital will be explored.
In January 1983, a seminar was held on the causes and pathogenesis of human liver cancer. The meeting was held in Honolulu and the chairmen were Dr. Hans Popper of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Dr. W. Mori of Tokyo University. The discussions concerned the rising incidence of liver cancer in Japan, a new classification of liver tumors, the multiple steps involved in chemical carcinogenesis, and known or suspected specific hepatic carcinogens (mycotoxins, vinyl chloride, Thorotrast, alcohol, parasites, contraceptives and other hormones, hepatitis, and schistosomiasis). A report of the meeting has been prepared and will be submitted to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute for publication.
A meeting on neural crest tumors, held in Honolulu in March 1982, though not part of the current year's activities, led to a continuing effort to develop a report concerning a new concept on the relationship among these tumors and on their development. Dr. R. Neil Schimke of the University of Kansas and Dr. H. Nakamura of Hiroshima University have taken the lead in preparing this report.