Outline Director's Room Experimental Chemotherapy Molecular Phamacology Molecular Biotherapy Genome Research Clinical Research Anticancer Drug Information Office (ADIO) Genatherapy

Anticancer Drug Information Office, popularly called as ADIO, is the central office that facilitates information exchange and scientific communication internationally in the area of anticancer drug research. 1. History of ADIO Since its establishment, Cancer Chemotherapy Center has recognized the importance of international communication in research of caner chemotherapy and has worked under academic contracts that have been held with National Cancer Institute (NCI), the United States of America (U.S.). ADIO was established as an office for communication and information exchange between Cancer Chemotherapy Center and NCI. ADIO's contributions are historically divided into three eras: (1) In 1970's, Cancer Chemotherapy Center screened for anticancer drugs in collaboration with NCI. ADIO made its contribution as the administrative office for this project. (2) Since 1981, Cancer Chemotherapy Center has independently performed the screening, which has been supported by Japanese government. (3) In 1988, NCI-JFCR Research Training Program was established. ADIO made its contribution as the administrative office for the exchange program of young scientists in the U.S. and Japan. ADIO, as the office for US-Japan Cancer Chemotherapy Seminar, which had been held four times, also played a significant role for communications between cancer researchers in both countries. NCI-JFCR Research Training Program and US-Japan Cancer Chemotherapy Seminar have been successfully developed to the present styles, NCI-JFCR Scientist Exchange Program and International Symposium on Cancer Chemotherapy, respectively (see below). 2. Information exchange for anticancer drug development between US and Japan In the area of development of new anticancer drugs, Japan has been one of the top-level countries in the world. For researchers in the U.S., however, it was rather difficult to catch sight of scientific reports published in Japan. For this reason, NCI asked ADIO to introduce such Japanese works to researchers in the U.S. Since its establishment, ADIO has played this role. For example, 2,363 papers on cancer chemotherapy and 23 progress reports of ongoing clinical trials for newly developed anticancer drugs, both of which had been published in Japan from 1994 to 1998, were introduced to NCI by ADIO. Also, researchers in Cancer Chemotherapy Center and NCI have periodically met and discussed through the activities of ADIO. Furthermore, information exchange and research communication were facilitated between the U.S. and Japan through the International Symposium on Cancer Chemotherapy. 3. Future Roles for ADIO Influenced by the movements of international harmonization (ICH), introduction of new good clinical practice (GCP) for clinical trials and systems for physician-led clinical trials, current trends in anticancer drug development are facing the era of drastic changes: to be more international and more scientific. Especially in these days, importance of translational research has been recognized, which is the effort to utilize the knowledge from Japanese excellent basic studies for clinical applications. ADIO is the only one Japanese office that is dedicated to international communication for anticancer drug development. Under these circumstances, ADIO's working field will further expand. (1) International Symposium on Cancer Chemotherapy (2) NCI-JFCR Scientist Exchange Program Director Takao Yamori, Ph.D. Chief Hiroyuki Seimiya, Ph.D. Staff Naomi Aihara, Ritsuko Mihara Supporting Staff Yasuyo Okano