-BNCT Cancer Therapy Facility at Edogawa Hospital Receives International Team of Eminent Physicians and Scientists-

GN Corporation Co., Ltd., a Japanese firm involved in research and development of technology in regenerative medicine, and Edogawa Evolutionary Laboratory of Science(EELS), a unit of Tokyo’s Edogawa Hospital, cosponsored NCRM NICHE 2019 ( www.ncrmniche.org ), an international academic conference organized by Nichi-In(Japan-India) Centre for Regenerative Medicine(NCRM), in Tokyo on October 15, 2019.

(Photo1: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105749/201910172266/_prw_PI2lg_0BD2ED38.jpg)

(Photo2: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105749/201910172266/_prw_PI1lg_E3V50NJ5.jpg)

Prof. Jurgen Hescheler, head of neurophysiology at the University of Cologne and President of the German Society for Stem Cell Research(GSZ), along with other clinicians and scientists from various nations including Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, visited the facility for cancer treatment utilizing a Boron Neutron Capture Therapy(BNCT) system at Edogawa Hospital. Prof. Hescheler was a special guest to deliver lectures on his pioneering work on embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem(iPS) cells at the conference.

Dr. Yukihiro Hama, a radiation oncologist, and Dr. Shojiro Katoh, President of Edogawa Hospital, took the visitors around the facility and explained the technical and clinical advantages of the BNCT system in treating cancer patients. The facility is scheduled to become operational in the second half of 2020 following validations, enabling Edogawa Hospital to provide BNCT treatment to not only domestic but also overseas patients.

Prof. Hescheler, an authority on embryonic stem cells and iPS cells, visited the hybrid biomaterial cum cell culture lab in the facility, which was jointly established by NCRM and JBM Inc. of Tokyo. He and other visitors were explained about the technicalities of cell transplantation using novel biomaterials in specific applications.

Upon their visit, Dr. Katoh expressed his ambitions for international collaborations in both inter-disciplinary research and clinical translations based on technologies developed in Japan and their clinical expertise. Earlier Prof. Gary Levy, founding director of the multi-organ transplant program at the University of Toronto, inaugurated the Edogawa NICHE Hall of Fame ( www.edogawanicheprize.org ) in a ceremony through tele-conferencing. The hall honors the winners of the Edogawa NICHE Prize, which was established in 2018 to award physicians and scientists for their inter-disciplinary contributions to medical breakthroughs.