ETIOLOGY PROGRAM AREA

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

The year April 1, 1991 to March 31, 1992 is the third year of the fourth 5-year program of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Cancer Research Program. The objective of the Etiology Program Area is to clarify the causes of human cancers and to determine the mechanisms of carcinogenesis. It has been envisaged that cancer prevention may be achieved eventually through progress in the science of cancer etiology.
Four seminars were held during this period, three in the United States and one in Japan. The first seminar, “Involvement of Growth Regulatory Genes in Cancer,” focused on recent developments in this area. The second seminar, “Genomic Instability during Carcinogenesis and Tumor Regression, ” dealt with recent knowledge on the molecular mechanisms leading to genetic alterations during the course of carcinogenesis and tumor progression. The third seminar, “Transgenic Animals in Cancer Research,” presented recent findings and views on the use and knowledge of transgenic animals for studying the process of oncogenesis and proto-oncogene function. The fourth seminar, “Fundamentals in Cancer Prevention” focused on strategies for primary cancer prevention based upon laboratory and epidemiological studies of the etiology of human cancer.
Three scientists from Japan participated in the exchange program in etiology research, which has as its mission to provide a fundamental basis for understanding cancer causation that, in turn, would help in identifying effective means for preventing or modulating this process.