Message from Congress President

It is my greatest pleasure to announce that the 95th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association will be held at Royton Sapporo (in Sapporo, Hokkaido) from Thursday, February 23 to Saturday, February 25, 2023. I am deeply honored and humbled to be appointed as the Congress President of this prestigious event, which has historically served as one of the main pillars of gastric cancer treatment in Japan, a world leader in this area of research and practice.

For this Annual Meeting, we have decided to adopt the theme “Pursuing the changing horizon of gastric cancer!” Along with the decline in Helicobacter pylori infection, the incidence of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia has decreased, resulting in a significant change in the gastric environment. The advent of new diseases, such as gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic-gland type and raspberry-shaped gastric neoplasm, coupled with the advancement of image-enhanced endoscopic techniques, indicates that the diagnosis of gastric cancer can no longer be based on experience. I believe that we are entering a new phase in gastric cancer treatment, with the widespread use of robotic surgery and accumulation of evidence for the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in chemotherapy. As in surgery, in my specialist field of endoscopy, the development of robots is progressing rapidly, particularly overseas. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is also advancing at a remarkable speed, to the extent that the joke that AI will eventually be able to do everything from diagnosis to treatment without the need for a physician may soon no longer be a joke. With epidemiological evidence pointing to a significant decline in the incidence of gastric cancer in the near future, we may soon witness a major shift in the landscape of gastric cancer. To encourage us to take a fresh perspective on the stomach, the cartoonist Mr. Yukinobu Hoshino, a senior at my alma mater Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High School, has created a stunning poster that reflects my intentions.

For the first time in the 9 years since the 86th Annual Meeting, the internal medicine department will be in charge of this meeting. I sincerely hope to create a forum where surgeons, medical oncologists, gastroenterologists, endoscopists, pathologists, and basic researchers can collaborate and engage in fruitful dialog. Although there have been discussions about the internationalization of the Gastric Cancer Association—as I was once teased by the esteemed Dr. Takeshi Sano (currently Hospital Director of the Cancer Institute Hospital of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research) who asked, “What language is your ‘English’?”—given that this will be a domestic conference, the majority of the presentations and discussions will be conducted in Japanese. Of course, we will also be holding a set of sessions in English every day to accommodate our overseas participants, the contents of which will complement the 15th International Gastric Cancer Congress (IGCC 2023), which is scheduled in June 2023 and chaired by Congress President Dr. Yuko Kitagawa.

As you are aware, the 92nd–94th meetings were held entirely online or in a hybrid format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we will continue to monitor the situation and consider webcasting in the case of emergency, currently, we are aiming to hold the meeting on-site. Thus, I truly hope that many of you will be able to join us in Sapporo, where the delicious local cuisine and beverages of Hokkaido await you.

I look forward to seeing you in Sapporo in the winter to engage in heated discussions.