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Although we usually report 5‐year cancer survival using population‐based cancer registry data, nowadays many cancer patients survive longer and need to be followed‐up for more than 5 years. Long‐term cancer survival figures are scarce in Japan. Here we report 10‐year cancer survival and conditional survival using an established statistical approach. We received data on 1 387 489 cancer cases from six prefectural population‐based cancer registries in Japan, diagnosed between 1993 and 2009 and followed‐up for at least 5 years. We estimated the 10‐year relative survival of patients who were followed‐up between 2002 and 2006 using period analysis. Using this 10‐year survival, we also calculated the conditional 5‐year survival for cancer survivors who lived for some years after diagnosis. We reported 10‐year survival and conditional survival of 23 types of cancer for 15–99‐year‐old patients and four types of cancer for children (0–14 years old) and adolescent and young adults (15–29 years old) patients by sex. Variation in 10‐year cancer survival by site was wide, from 5% for pancreatic cancer to 95% for female thyroid cancer. Approximately 70–80% of children and adolescent and young adult cancer patients survived for more than 10 years. Conditional 5‐year survival for most cancer sites increased according to years, whereas those for liver cancer and multiple myeloma did not increase. We reported 10‐year cancer survival and conditional survival using population‐based cancer registries in Japan. It is important for patients and clinicians to report these relevant figures using population‐based data. We reported 10‐year cancer survival and conditional survival using population‐based cancer registries in Japan. It is important for patients and clinicians to report these relevant figures using population‐based database.

Background: Lung cancers are classified into small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung cancer due to their different treatment and prognosis. Although many studies have reported the specific survival of SCLC patients treated at cancer hospitals, survival from population-based data has rarely been reported. Methods: We analyzed survival of SCLC cases diagnosed from 1993 through 2006 from a population-based cancer registry of six prefectures. To assess trends in SCLC survival, we defined three periods that mirrored developments in SCLC treatment: period 1, 1993–1998; period 2, 1999–2001; and period 3, 2002–2006. Assessments were based on relative survival (RS), excess hazard, and conditional survival. Results: A total of 10,911 SCLC patients were analyzed. Five-year RS among limited disease SCLC (LD-SCLC) in periods 1 to 3 was 16.8%, 21.1%, and 21.4%, respectively. Five-year RS among extensive disease SCLC (ED-SCLC) in periods 1 to 3 was 2.3%, 2.8%, and 2.7%, respectively. Improvement in 5-year RS in periods 2 and 3 compared with period 1 was significant among both LD- and ED-SCLC patients (all P < 0.001). Conditional 5-year RS of LD-SCLC increased from 21% at year 0 to 73% at year 5, while that of ED-SCLC was 3% at year 0 and 53% at year 5. Conclusions: The prognosis of SCLC patients improved from 1999–2001 but plateaued in 2002–2006, after which no further significant improvement was seen. Continuous survey based on population-based data is helpful in monitoring the impact of developments in treatment.

Background: Recent improvements in 5-year survival of breast cancer have been reported in Japan and other countries. Though the number of long-term breast cancer survivors has been increasing, recent improvements in 10-year survival have not been reported. Moreover, the degree of improvement according to age and disease stage remains unclear. Methods: We calculated long-term survival using data on breast cancer diagnosed from 1993 through 2006 from six prefectural population-based cancer registries in Japan. The recent increase in 10-year relative survival was assessed by comparing the results of period analysis in 2002–2006 with the results of cohort analysis in 1993–1997. We also conducted stratified analyses by age group (15–34, 35–49, 50–69, and 70–99 years) and disease stage (localized, regional, and distant). Results: A total of 63,348 patients were analysed. Ten-year relative survival improved by 2.4% (76.9% vs 79.3%) from 1993 through 2006. By age and stage, 10-year relative survival clearly improved in the age 35–49 years (+2.9%; 78.1% vs 81.0%), 50–69 years (+2.8%; 75.2% vs 78.0%) and regional disease (+3.4%; 64.9% vs 68.3%). In contrast, the degree of improvement was small in the age 15–34 years (+0.1%; 68.2% vs 68.3%), 70–99 years (+1.0%; 87.6% vs 88.6%), localized disease (+1.1%; 92.6% vs 93.7%) and distant metastasis (+0.9%; 13.8% vs 14.7%). Conclusions: These population-based cancer registry data show that 10-year relative survival improved 2.4% over this period in Japan. By age and stage, improvement in the age 15–34 years and distant metastasis was very small, which suggests the need for new therapeutic strategies in these patients.

Since the mid-1990s, there has been an increasing incidence of, and mortality from, cervical and breast cancers in Japan. Such an increase has raised concerns over the efficiency of Japan's screening programmes for these cancers. Although citizens benefit from universal health coverage, the Japanese health insurance system mostly focuses on tertiary prevention and disease treatment, while secondary prevention (screening) is low priority. Citizens have multiple opportunities to be screened for cancer—either through programmes organised by municipalities, or individual or collective, opportunistic and comprehensive health check-ups on a voluntary basis. Despite this, however, participation is as low as 35% of the target population for both cancers. In this Policy Review, we discuss the challenges in the prevention of breast and cervical cancers in Japan, particularly focusing on the structure of the National Health Insurance system and the National Cancer Control Plan, reasons for low participation as a result of social and political attitudes, as well as providing recommendations to overcome these challenges. Japanese women would benefit from new measures to increase participation, a national data surveillance programme to monitor screening activities, and the implementation of a quality assurance system among all providers.

Advances in diagnostic techniques and treatment modalities have impacted head and neck cancer (HNC) prognosis, but their effects on subsite‐specific prognosis remain unclear. This study aimed to assess subsite‐specific trends in mid‐ and long‐term survival for HNC patients diagnosed from 1993 to 2011 using data from population‐based cancer registries in Japan. We estimated the net survival (NS) for HNC by subsite using data from 13 prefectural population‐based cancer registries in Japan. Changes in survival over time were assessed by multivariate excess hazard model of mortality. In total, 68,312 HNC patients were included in this analysis. We observed an overall improvement in 5‐year NS for HNC patients in Japan. However, survival varied among subsites of HNC, with some, such as naso‐, oro‐ and hypopharyngeal cancers, showing significant improvement in both 5‐ and 10‐year NS, whereas others such as laryngeal cancer showed only a slight improvement in 5‐year NS and no significant change in 10‐year NS after adjustment for age, sex and stage. In conclusion, the study provides insights into changing HNC survival by site at the population level in Japan. Although advances in diagnostic techniques and treatment modalities have improved survival, these improvements are not shared equally among subsites. We evaluated trends of head and neck cancer survival by subsite in Japan using population‐basedcancer registry data. During the observation periods, each pharyngeal cancer showed an upward trend, although laryngeal cancer showed no significant trend in long‐term survival. These findings may reflect the change in mainstream treatment.

Dietary factors may affect the prognosis of digestive tract cancer, but evidence has been sparse. We investigated the association between pretreatment intake of 6 Japanese foods (including soy food, miso [soybean paste] soup and seaweed) and the risk of death among patients with histologically confirmed major digestive tract cancers (stomach, 1931; colon, 793; rectum, 510) diagnosed during 1997‐2013 at a single institution in Japan. Pretreatment dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and the patients were followed until December 2016. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Among the patients with stomach cancer, frequent intake of soy food was inversely associated with the risk of all‐cause (Ptrend for four frequency groups = 0.01; HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.50‐1.04 for highest vs lowest group) and stomach cancer (Ptrend = 0.03; HR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.40‐0.99) death. A similar inverse association was also found for intake of miso soup. In contrast, frequent seaweed intake was inversely associated with the risk of all‐cause death among the patients with colon cancer (Ptrend = 0.03). Rectal cancer patients who had frequently consumed seaweed tended to have a lower risk of rectal cancer death (Ptrend = 0.02). These findings indicate that pretreatment intake of Japanese foods such as soybean products and seaweed may have favorable effects on patient survival of stomach and colorectal cancer, although this needs to be confirmed by further research. The aim of this patient cohort study is to clarify the relationship between intake of selected traditional Japanese foods and survival after diagnosis of stomach and colorectal cancer. The results indicate that intake of Japanese foods such as soybean products and seaweed may have a favorable effect on patient survival of stomach and colorectal cancer.

Infant body size at birth has been suggested as a good marker of fetal development. However, in Vietnam, impacts of maternal TCDD exposure originating from Agent Orane on body size indices at birth have not been investigated in infants from birth cohorts around former US airbases. We investigated the effects of maternal TCDD exposure and TEQ levels of dioxin congeners other than TCDD (non-TCDD) on body size indices at birth among 504 infants from three Vietnamese birth cohorts in two contaminated areas and one unexposed area. The effects of two exposure factors, TEQ-PCDD and TEQ-PCDF in breast milk were also analyzed. Two-way analysis of covariance was used to investigate associations between body size markers and exposure factors, including interaction between exposure factors after adjusting for confounders. In girls, maternal TCDD exposure was associated with increased head circumference at birth, suggesting larger fetal brain size. TCDD exposure also showed a risk of increased abdominal fat accumulation, indicated by larger abdominal circumference in girls, whereas higher TEQ-PCDFs exposure decreased abdominal size in both sexes, suggesting potential antagonistic effects between PCDF congeners and TCDD. These findings suggest that, in Vietnam, TCDD may be a specific dioxin congener to influence fetal growth and development leading to atypical neurodevelopment and abdominal obesity in a later life.

It has been postulated that being breastfed in infancy affects not only health status in childhood but also disease risk in adulthood. To investigate the association of being breastfed with the risks of adult colorectal cancer and benign tumor, we conducted a case–control study including 1190 colorectal cancer and 1585 benign tumor cases and 5301 controls, admitted to a single hospital in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, between 1997 and 2013. History of having been breastfed was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire, and odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. There was no association between being breastfed and colorectal cancer risk (breastfed versus formula-only fed, OR = 1.21; 95% CI 0.87–1.67). There was also no association with the risk of benign tumor (OR = 1.04). On the other hand, analyses stratified by sex and birth year found heterogeneous associations. Women born after 1950 who had been breastfed tended to have increased risks of colorectal cancer (OR = 1.58) and benign tumor (OR = 1.51) relative to those who had been formula-only fed, although not statistically significant. In men born after 1950, being breastfed was associated with a significantly decreased risk of benign tumor (OR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.33–0.98).

Eating alone and poor dental status have been reported to influence dietary intake in older adults. First, we compared nutrient and food intake and dental markers between women eating alone and together, who participated in a home health management program conducted by Kanazawa Medical University. The results showed the significantly higher intake of fresh fruit and some micro-nutrients and a lower decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index (better dental status) in women eating alone after adjusting for age, suggesting that dental status may mediate the association between commensality and dietary intake. Then, we investigated nutrients and foods at risk for insufficient intake and associated with increasing dental markers. The risks for the insufficient intake of protein and n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were significantly increased with an increasing DMFT index. The risk for n-3 PUFA intake also increased with increasing numbers of missing teeth in women. Foods at risk for insufficient consumption included beans for women with an increasing DMFT index and green and yellow vegetables, fresh fruits, and meat and fish for women with increasing numbers of missing teeth. These findings suggest that good health management, including the treatment of decayed teeth, is important for the prevention of malnutrition in community-dwelling healthy older women.

Bone metabolism is regulated by endocrine systems, so people exposed to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) may suffer adverse effects on bones and teeth. We reviewed previous publications in which effects of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls on the teeth and bones of animals and humans were found. The aim was to identify future research directions, particularly for epidemiological studies of populations exposed to PCDD/Fs in the environment. Exposure of fetuses to PCDD/Fs may affect odontogenesis, particularly enamel formation, but the effects of PCDD/Fs on bone genesis are limited to palatine bone. Exposure to PCDD/Fs in milk may affect both teeth and bones, but the effects on bones may be reversible. Exposure to high PCDD/F concentrations even during adulthood may adversely affect teeth. Exposure to PCDD/Fs may induce osteogenesis and improve bone properties because the disrupting effects of PCDD/Fs cause bone remodeling and vitamin D activation. More studies involving humans are required to investigate previously found associations between the PCDD/F concentrations humans are exposed to and biological markers for teeth and bones, including metabolites of vitamin D.