The 10th Clinical Cancer Research Forum.

After World War II, the types of major diseases in Japan underwent dramatic changes. Until 1953, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases had been leading causes of death in Japan, but owing to the improvement of public health conditions and the use of antibiotics, the incidence of classical infectious diseases dropped sharply, while that of noncommunicable diseases or lifestyle-related diseases, such as cancer and cerebrovascular diseases, increased markedly. In 1981, cancer became the number one cause of death and the number of cancer deaths continues to increase.