The National Cancer Center began a clinical study in January to administer a treatment drug that has not been approved in Japan to children and young people with cancer.
It is hoped that this will help eliminate the ``drug lag'' in which it takes time for drugs used overseas to become available in Japan.
This was announced on the 19th by a group including Chitose Ogawa, head of the pediatric oncology department at the National Cancer Center Hospital.
In the treatment of cancer, progress is being made in the development of "molecular targeted drugs" that target the causative genes.However, due to the small number of patients with pediatric cancer, clinical trials in Japan have not progressed, and they are not being used overseas. One issue is the ``drug lag'' in which it takes time for even existing drugs to become available in Japan.
In clinical research, five types of molecular targeted drugs that have not yet been approved in Japan were determined to be expected to be effective through genetic testing and other methods, targeting cancer patients aged 0 to under 30 for whom there is no standard treatment. This means administering new drugs and verifying their safety and effectiveness.
The therapeutic drugs used will be provided free of charge by the company, meaning that patients can participate by paying only the hospitalization and testing costs.
Director Ogawa said, ``Having people participate in research will improve access to therapeutic drugs, but I believe it is only the next best option.Ultimately, we will work with pharmaceutical companies to make more drugs available.'' We would like to make it approved and usable in Japan."