Background: Unlike many North American and European countries, Japan has observed a continuous increase in cancer incidence over the last few decades. We examined the most recent trends in ...population-based cancer incidence and mortality in Japan. Methods: National cancer mortality data between 1958 and 2018 were obtained from published vital statistics. Cancer incidence data between 1985 and 2015 were obtained from high-quality population-based cancer registries maintained by three prefectures (Yamagata, Fukui, and Nagasaki). Trends in age-standardized rates (ASR) were examined using Joinpoint regression analysis. Results: For males, all-cancer incidence increased between 1985 and 1996 (annual percent change APC +1.1%; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.7–1.5%), increased again in 2000–2010 (+1.3%; 95% CI, 0.9–1.8%), and then decreased until 2015 (−1.4%; 95% CI, −2.5 to −0.3%). For females, all-cancer incidence increased until 2010 (+0.8%; 95% CI, 0.6–0.9% in 1985–2004 and +2.4%; 95% CI, 1.3–3.4% in 2004–2010), and stabilized thereafter until 2015. The post-2000 increase was mainly attributable to prostate in males and breast in females, which slowed or levelled during the first decade of the 2000s. After a sustained increase, all-cancer mortality for males decreased in 1996–2013 (−1.6%; 95% CI, −1.6 to −1.5%) and accelerated thereafter until 2018 (−2.5%; 95% CI, −2.9 to −2.0%). All-cancer mortality for females decreased intermittently throughout the observation period, with the most recent APC of −1.0% (95% CI, −1.1 to −0.9%) in 2003–2018. The recent decreases in mortality in both sexes, and in incidence in males, were mainly attributable to stomach, liver, and male lung cancers. Conclusion: The ASR of all-cancer incidence began decreasing significantly in males and levelled off in females in 2010.
Background: Suicide amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an important issue. In Japan, the number of suicides in April 2020 decreased by nearly 20% from that in 2019. To assess the ...impact of an infectious disease pandemic, excess mortality is often discussed. Our main purpose was evaluating excess mortality from suicide in Japan during the early pandemic period.Methods: We used data on suicides collected by the National Police Agency of Japan until June 2020. We estimated excess mortality during the early pandemic period (March–June 2020) using a time-series model of the number of suicides before the pandemic. A quasi-Poisson model was employed for the estimation. We evaluated excess mortalities by the categories of age and sex, and by prefecture.Results: No significant excess mortality was observed throughout the early pandemic; instead, a downward trend in the number of suicides for both sexes was noted. For males, negative values of excess mortalities below the lower bound of the 95% prediction interval were observed in April and May. All numbers of females during the period were included in the interval, and the excess mortalities in June were positive and higher than those in April and May. In Tokyo, the number of suicides was below the lower bound throughout the period.Conclusion: Our results suggest that various changes, such as communication, and social conditions amid the early COVID-19 pandemic induced a decrease in suicides in Japan. However, continuous monitoring is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the pandemic on suicides.
Abstract
While the age-standardized mortality rate in Japan is decreasing for all cancers as a whole, this is not the case for some major site-specific cancers. We descriptively compared trends in ...all-cancer and site-specific cancer mortality in Japan and selected countries. Data on age-standardized cancer mortality rates in six countries (Japan, the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and the Republic of Korea) in 1980–2016 were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. While stomach and liver cancer mortality rates in Japan and Korea were initially much higher than those in non-Asian countries, they have rapidly decreased over the long term. By contrast, colorectal, pancreatic and cervical cancer mortality rates in Japan, which were initially lower than those in other countries, have increased such that they are now similar or higher than the rates in non-Asian countries. For male lung cancer, Japan’s initially lower mortality rate is now comparable to that in non-Asian countries as a result of slower decline. Meanwhile, the mortality rate of female breast cancer in Japan and Korea has increased and is nearing the rates observed in non-Asian countries, which by contrast have shown a steady decrease. Thus, while Japan has been successful in reducing the burden of stomach and liver cancers, it is falling behind in reducing the mortality rate of screening-related cancers such as colorectal, female breast and cervical cancers. Control measures for these cancers need to be strengthened.
The presence of comorbidities in cancer patients may influence treatment decisions and prognoses. This study aimed to examine the impact of comorbidities on overall survival in Japanese patients ...diagnosed with major solid tumors.
To obtain patient-level information on clinical conditions and vital status, we performed a record linkage of population-based cancer registry data from Osaka Prefecture, Japan and administrative data produced under the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) system. The study population comprised patients who received a primary diagnosis of gastric, colorectal, or lung cancer between 2010 and 2012 at any of five cancer centers. We employed the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score to quantify the impact of comorbidities on survival. The association between CCI score and survival for each cancer site was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression models for all-cause mortality, after adjusting for patient sex, age at cancer diagnosis, and cancer stage.
A total of 2,609 patients with a median follow-up duration of 1,372 days were analyzed. The most frequent CCI score among the patients was 0 (77.7%), followed by 2 (14.3%). After adjusting for the covariates, we detected a significant association between CCI score and all-cause mortality. The hazard ratios per one-point increase in CCI score were 1.12 (95% confidence interval CI, 1.02-1.23), 1.20 (95% CI, 1.08-1.34), and 1.14 (95% CI, 1.04-1.24) for gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer, respectively.
Comorbidities have a negative prognostic impact on overall survival in cancer patients, and should be assessed as risk factors for mortality when reporting outcomes.
Purpose
It has been reported that maintaining the mental health of cancer patients is a critically important issue, and that resilience is related to mental health. This study conducted a systematic ...literature review in order to fully understand the relationships between resilience and anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QOL) in adult cancer patients, as well as identify factors associated with resilience.
Methods
The PubMed, CINAHL, Psychology Database, and ICHUSHI Web databases were searched for articles related to resilience in cancer patients published between 2014 and 2019 using the keywords “cancer” and “resilience,” connected with “and.” The extracted articles that met inclusion criteria were organized using a matrix. To understand the resilience status of adult cancer patients, meta-analyses were performed using resilience scores measured with the most commonly used resilience scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25.
Results
Thirty-nine articles were included in the analysis. A higher resilience score is associated with lower anxiety and depression scores and higher QOL scores. Factors related to resilience include personal factors such as age and gender, disease-related factors such as the presence or absence and severity of physical symptoms, and internal factors such as self-efficacy and hopefulness.
Conclusions
It was found that it is important for cancer patients to improve resilience to maintain mental health and QOL. The findings suggest that providing interventions for factors that will reduce resilience will provide support for patients with cancer.
C(aryl)-C(═O) bonds of aryl amides can be activated and added across alkenes with the aid of a nickel catalyst. This 1,2-carboaminocarbonylation reaction enables the dicarbofunctionalization of ...alkenes with an atom economy of 100%.
The present study aimed to compare cancer incidence and trends in survival for children diagnosed in Japan and England, using population‐based cancer registry data. The analysis was based on 5192 ...children with cancer (age 0‐14 years) from 6 prefectural cancer registries in Japan and 21 295 children diagnosed in England during 1993‐2010. Differences in incidence rates between the 2 countries were measured with Poisson regression models. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Incidence rates for Hodgkin lymphoma, renal tumors and Ewing sarcomas in England were more than twice as high as those in Japan. Incidence of germ cell tumors, hepatic tumors, neuroblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was higher in Japan than in England. Incidence of all cancers combined decreased in Japan throughout the period 1993 to 2010, which was mainly explained by a decrease in registration of neuroblastoma in infants. For many cancers, 5‐year survival improved in both countries. The improvement in survival in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was particularly dramatic in both countries. However, 5‐year survival remained less than 80% in 2005‐2008 in both countries for AML, brain tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, malignant bone tumors and neuroblastoma (age 1‐14 years). There were significant differences in incidence of several cancers between countries, suggesting variation in genetic susceptibility and possibly environmental factors. The decrease in incidence for all cancers combined in Japan was related to the cessation of the national screening program for neuroblastoma. The large improvement in survival in CML coincided with the introduction of effective therapy (imatinib).
For many of childhood cancers, 5‐year survival improved in Japan and England. The improvement in survival in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) was particularly dramatic in both countries.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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%).
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.
Nickel-catalyzed decarbonylation of acylsilanes is developed. In sharp contrast to cross-coupling reactions of acylsilanes, in which the silyl group serves as a leaving group, the silyl group is ...retained in the product in this decarbonylation reaction. Although the strong binding of the dissociated CO to the nickel center frequently hinders catalyst turnover in nickel-mediated decarbonylative reactions, this reaction can be catalyzed by nickel complexes bearing a CO ligand.