Summary of the project

In Japan, more than half of the population suffers from cancer, and more than 20% of people dies of cancer. Our current clinical situation is even after the development of some promising drugs, we can not predict their effectiveness before we actually test it. Especially, refractory cancer types have been most serious threat to us, largely because of unclear causality during the tumor development and the highly-limited methods for their early diagnosis.
While conventional basic cancer research has employed animal models and cancer cell lines due to technical and ethical limitations. However, some innovative technologies such as highly sensitive genome analysis and patient-derived organoid culture have been expanding the possibilities of utilizing patient-derived experimental resources and biometric data sets.
In this project, we further advance these state-of-the-art technologies. We establish clinical sample-based research platform to collect, preserve, and distribute patient-derived samples and data sets, including those from early-stage patients. Furthermore, leveraging this platform, we identify candidate key targets for the predication and prevention of cancer with the biological evidence of their roles in the process of the tumor development.
Through our integrative research network, we will develop and implement innovative technology platform as the source of new predictive and preventive methods for intractable cancers. We will also advance the development of new diagnostic markers and identify novel therapeutic targets for the prediction and prevention of intractable cancers.
As a milestone for our final goal of changing those intractable cancers into curable ones, we will develop innovative technologies for the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy by year 2030. By 2050, we aim to realize a society in which everyone can get precision medicine of cancer at any moment by year 2050.

Milestone by year 2030

Develop innovative technologies for the prediction, diagnosis, and prevention of pancreatic cancer to transform the one of the most intractable malignancies into a curable disease.

R&D Items through FY2025

• [1] Development of technologies for collecting patient biospecimens and data for the realization of optimal medicine (My Medicine)
• [2] Technology development for integrated analysis and verification of patient biometric data
• [3] Technology development for the creation of innovative diagnostic and treatment concepts based on understanding of the onset process of cancer
• Progress Report (1.31MB)

R&D Items from FY2026

• [101] Ultra-early and Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer through Blood-based Screening
• [102] Development of AI-based Algorithms for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Using Non-contrast CT and MRI
• [103] Detection of Ultra-early-stage Pancreatic Cancer Using Nuclear Medicine Probes and Translation toward Therapeutic Applications
• [111] Elucidation of the Natural History of Ultra-early-stage Pancreatic Cancer and Establishment of Clinically Relevant Model Platforms
• [112] Discovery of Biology-based Diagnostic and Predictive Biomarkers, Therapeutic Targets, and Theranostic Strategies
• [113] Development of Disease Trajectory Modeling and Personalized Strategies Using AI and Mathematical Analysis

Performers

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• Summary of the project (270 KB)