JCOG

The Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) is the largest Japanese cooperative group funded primarily by the National Cancer Center Research and Development Fund.

History

Year Organization and Reseach Grant Study Group
1978 Initial research was started, based on the grant “A Study on the Multidisciplinary Treatment of Cancer”, funded by a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Principal Investigator was Keiichi Suemasu, M.D. The Lymphoma Study Group (LSG)
The Japan Esophageal Oncology Group (JEOG)
1982   The Lung Cancer Study Group (LCSG)
1984   The Gastric Cancer Surgical Study Group (GCSSG) (currently the Stomach Cancer Study Group)
1985   The Gastrointestinal Oncology Study Group (GIOSG)
The Breast Cancer Study Group (BCSG)
1986 Constitution and Bylaws established.The Clinical Trials Review Committee (currently the Protocol Review Committee) and Data and Safety Monitoring Committee were instituted. The Lung Cancer Surgical Study Group (LCSSG)
1987 The Steering Committee Meeting (currently the Executive Committee Meeting) was established.  
1988 A new Grant-in-Aid was received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare , for a project titled “A Study on the Multidisciplinary Treatment of Solid Cancer”. The Principal Investigator was Masanori Shimoyama, M.D.  
1990 The organization was named “JCOG (Japan Clinical Oncology Group)”.
Dr. Masanori Shimoyama became the first JCOG Chair.		  
1991 The “JCOG Statistical Center” (now called the JCOG Data Center) was established, and began central patient registration and randomization using the minimization method.  
1995   The Gynecologic Cancer Study Group (GCSG)
1999 “A Study on the Multidisciplinary Treatment of Solid Cancer” was divided into four groups:

  • “Multi-institutional Cooperative Study to Establish the Standard Therapy of Chemosensitive Malignant Tumors (14S-1)”;
  • “Study on Establishment of a Global Standard in the Treatment of Lung Cancer (14S-2)”
  • “Studies on Multi-institutional Trials for Establishing Standard Therapy for Gastrointestinal Cancers (14S-3)”;
  • “Study on Establishment of a High-quality Clinical Trial System through a Cooperative Group Mechanism (14S-4)”.
Quality Assurance Audit Committee, Education and Training Committee, Surgery Committee, and Radiotherapy Committee were established.		  
2001 Dr. Nagahiro Saijo became the second JCOG Chair.
JCOG took part in the national project “Medical Frontier Strategy Research” (superseded since 2002 by “Clinical Research for Evidence Based Medicine”) with a Health Sciences Research Grant.		 The Colorectal Cancer Study Group (CCSG)
The Urologic Oncology Group (UOSG)
2002   The Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Study Group (BSTTSG)
2003   The Radiation Therapy Study Group (RTSG)
The Brain Tumor Study Group (BTSG)
2004 A new competitive grant system from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare was initiated, called "Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant for Clinical Cancer Research".  
2005 JCOG study activity incorporated a new Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research, titled "Multi-institutional Cooperative Studies for the Establishment of Standard Therapy of Rare Malignant Tumors (17S-4)".  
2006 The JCOG central office was reorganized into the JCOG Data Center and JCOG Operations Office.
The NPO CORE (Non-Profit Organization Clinical Oncology Research and Education) was established, collaboratively managing the JCOG Data Center / Operations Office with the National Cancer Center.		  
2008 A new Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research, titled "Multi-institutional Cooperative Studies for the Establishment of Standard Therapy of Radiation Therapy (20S-5)" was added to the JCOG study activity.
An international collaborative study with South Korea was begun.		 The Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology Group (HBPOG)
2009 Dr. Tomohide Tamura became the third JCOG Chair.  
2011 The Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research was reorganized into the "National Cancer Center Research and Development Fund". JCOG activity was funded by 7 research grants: 23-A-16, 23-A-17, 23-A-18, 23-A-19, 23-A-20, 23-A-21, 23-A-22. The Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Study Group (GIESG)
The Head and Neck Cancer Study Group (HNCSG)
The Gastric Cancer Surgical Study Group (GCSSG) incorporated a part of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Study Group (GIOSG) and was renamed the Stomach Cancer Study Group (SCSG). The other section of GIOSG was reorganized into GIESG and HNCSG.
2012   The Dermatologic Oncology Group (DOG)

The detailed structure and history of JCOG can be found in the following article:

Fukuda H. Development of Cancer Cooperative Groups in Japan. Jpn J Clin Oncol 2010;40(9)881–890.

http://jjco.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/9/881.abstract