For "rare cancer", which has a small number of patients, it is difficult to conduct clinical trials, and it is difficult to develop treatment methods.
The National Cancer Center has announced that it has launched a database that collects information on patient genes in collaboration with medical institutions in five Southeast Asian countries, and hopes to promote the development of treatments for rare cancers that are common in Asia. increase.
The database was jointly launched by the National Cancer Center Hospital and 10 medical institutions in five countries in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The problem with rare cancers such as childhood cancer, sarcoma, and brain tumors is that clinical trials are difficult due to the small number of patients, and treatment methods are limited due to insufficient collection of genetic information. It has become.
In order to collect information on genes of Asian patients with similar characteristics in the database after obtaining consent, participating medical institutions will develop new treatment methods such as drugs according to the genetic characteristics of patients. We are planning to proceed with international clinical trials.
Data for 2000 patients in Japan have already been registered, and it is expected that data for more than 1000 patients from each country will be registered every year in the future.
Kenichi Nakamura, director of the International Development Division of the National Cancer Center Hospital, said, "It is significant in advancing research and development of cancer treatment methods, which are especially common in Asia. In the future, we would like to collaborate with East Asian countries. ".