The Cancer Transition in Japan since 1951

Abstract The overall trend of cancer mortality in Japan has been decreasing since the 1960s (age-standardized death rates for ages 30-69), some 20-30 years earlier than in otherindustrialized countries. Cancer mortality was heavily influenced by Japanese post-wareconomic recovery, which led to improved living conditions and better control of somecommon forms of cancer (stomach, cervical) largely caused by infectious agents.However, Japanese wealth and development have also been associated with riskypersonal behaviors (smoking, drinking) and other conditions, leading to increases incancers with no known or else very weak links to infection. We call this shift awayfrom infectious and toward non-infectious causes of prevalent forms of cancers the“cancer transition,” by analogy to Omran’s “epidemiologic transition.” The cancertransition described here in the case of Japan must be a part of efforts to revise andupdate the epidemiologic transition, which should incorporate new knowledge about therole of infection in chronic disease morbidity and mortality.