Regional Disparity in First-in-Class Anticancer Drug Development in the US, EU, and Japan.

A cancer diagnosis is devastating for both patients and their caregivers. With high morbidity and mortality, cancer is a serious disease area with unmet medical needs. Thus, innovative anticancer drugs are in high demand worldwide but are unequally available. Our study focused on first-in-class (FIC) anticancer drugs and investigated their actual development situation in the United States (US), European Union (EU), and Japan over the last two decades to obtain fundamental information for understanding how the aforementioned demands are met, especially to eliminate drug lags among regions. We identified FIC anticancer drugs using pharmacological classes for the Japanese drug pricing system. Most FIC anticancer drugs were first approved in the US. The median approval time for anticancer drugs in new pharmacological classes during the last two decades in Japan (5072 d) was significantly different (p = 0.043) from that in the US (4253 d), though it was not significantly different from that in the EU (4655 d). Submission and approval lags between the US and Japan were more than 2.1 years, and those between the EU and Japan were more than 1.2 years. However, those between the US and the EU were less than 0.8 years. The development rate of FIC anticancer drugs in Japan is slower than in other regions. Even among developed countries, FIC anticancer drug lags exist. Considering the high impact of FIC anticancer drugs on society worldwide, we should work together to reduce drug lag among regions using an improved international cooperative framework.

90Sr in mammal teeth from contaminated areas in the former Soviet Union measured by imaging plates.

Imaging plates sensitive to beta rays were used to obtain the images of 90Sr in tooth samples taken from mammals collected in contaminated areas of the former Soviet Union. The average concentrations of 90Sr in the samples were determined by comparing the intensities of the luminescence using a single crystal of KCl. The results showed that the determined 90Sr concentration has a positive correlation with the soil contamination levels in the South Ural region. Tooth samples from both inside of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and the villages nearby have detectable amounts of 90Sr, indicating the possible presence of residual soil contamination. The present study demonstrates that using imaging plates is a very sensitive method to detect 90Sr in teeth as well as to estimate low-level 90Sr contamination in soil.