editorials |
New wave
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
* (E-mail: david.kerr{at}clinpharm.ox.ac.uk)
Welcome to 2008, to volume 19 of Annals of Oncology. It gives me very great pleasure to introduce you to the official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and now the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO). To celebrate this new chapter in the development of Annals, I am delighted to be able to present here, with the permission of the Trustees of the British Museum one of the most memorable and widely recognized images of Japan, Katsushika Hokusai's ‘Under the Wave, off Kanagawa’ (Kanagawa oki nami-ura) (Figure 1).
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Hokusai's Wave is one of his ‘Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji’ (Fugaku sanjûrokkei) wood-block prints, which became a publishing phenomenon when they first appeared in 1832. And yet this quintessentially Japanese image also speaks to us of a dialogue between Europe and Japan. Hokusai is one of the major artists of the Ukiyo-e, painters of the floating world, which portrayed people going about their ordinary lives in an increasingly urbanized culture. At some stage, Ukiyo-e became influenced by the topographically accurate landscapes of 17th century French and Dutch painters, such as Rembrandt, imported into Japan as cheap etchings by Dutch merchants, and Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji is one of the high points of that form. Moreover, in these prints Hokusai was one of the first Japanese artists to use Prussian blue, the first modern synthetic dye developed in Berlin by the chemist and paint maker Heinrich Diesbach. Indeed, such was the success of Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji that Hokusai's publisher soon started running off inferior versions in which the Prussian blue was replaced by more readily available black pigments. Then European art was influenced by Hokusai in its turn with the impressionist painters Claude Monet and Edgar Degas becoming eager collectors of Hokusai prints when they entered Europe in the mid-19th century. Similarly, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gaugin acknowledged his influence.
So then, a publishing phenomenon, synthetic chemistry and a powerfully influential exchange of ideas between Europe and Japan: What better way to commemorate this new collaboration of ESMO and JSMO?
Another question arises: What will change now that Annals of Oncology is the official journal of JSMO? This is a difficult question to answer. You may have noticed the addition of the JSMO logo to the cover and elsewhere. Much more importantly, Nagahiro Saijo, President of JSMO, and Hiroyuki Yoshikawa have become Associate Editors. You will also see that the Editorial Board has been expanded substantially with the recruitment of Kiyohiko Hatake, Chikashi Ishioka, Yoshiyuki Kakehi, Noriyuki Katsumata, Hideo Kunitoh, Hironobu Minami, Yasushi Nagata, Tomoki Naoe, Kazuto Nishio, Atsushi Ohtsu, Mitsuru Sasako and Yutaka Tokuda. Welcome to you all; we expect great things of you.
Annals has been changing for some time now, with each new year bringing a list of new highs and new achievements. Last year Annals of Oncology received >1400 manuscripts, a record, and served the best part of 1.5 million full-text articles from its Web site, another record. The journal's impact factor rose to 5.179, its highest ever, and in so doing posted its highest single-year increase for the third time in the last 4 years. But gratifying though these numbers are, Annals of Oncology is more than that. Look at the articles themselves; last year the journal published the 2007 St Gallen consensus [1], the latest estimates on cancer incidence and mortality in Europe from the International Agency for Research on Cancer [2], reviews on subjects as various as chemotherapy for advanced endometrial cancer [3] and occupational risks associated with exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [4], and editorials considering the ethics of public resource allocation in oncology [5] and the follow-up of testicular cancer patients [6]. Original research articles similarly demonstrated the range and consistent high quality of submissions to the journal; see e.g. Bellmunt et al. [7] on ERCC1 expression as a novel prognostic marker, Kendall on suicide and cancer [8], and the Four-Arm Cooperative Study in Japan for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer [9].
Much of the credit for all this goes to the editorial team. Particular thanks go to Monica Castiglione and Alex Eggermont whose work as Associate Editors has done so much to develop the reputation of Annals of Oncology. Monica and Alex step down now, but in addition to our new Japanese colleagues it will be well to also introduce and welcome Lars Påhlman and Daniel Vorobiof as Associate Editors, and Sunil Daryanani, Sladjana Filipovic, Twalib Ngoma and Mahasti Saghatchian as new members of the Editorial Board.
All of the editors of Annals of Oncology, old and new, African and Asian, European, and American, share a common desire to publish science of the highest quality with the greatest impact on cancer care delivery. That has not changed and will not change. With the continued support of ESMO, with the new support of JSMO, we all, as cancer professionals, can work together to achieve public health goals at the global level. Through collaboration, science and dialogue, considering the real needs of our populations, the unchanging reality of Annals of Oncology is the possibility to shape the future for the better.
On a personal note, it seems likely that this will be my last volume commencement editorial as Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Oncology, as I am now taking up my position as ESMO President-elect and want to give that my fullest attention. Thanks are due to so many people, authors, editors, referees, editorial staff, Oxford University Press staff, ESMO, but I would like to say a special thank you here to Lewis Rowett, the journal's Executive Editor and my avatar in all things Annals.
Annals of Oncology has been a richly fulfilling 9-year project for me and I wish it and all who work on it continued success.
References
1. Goldhirsch A, Wood WC, Gelber RD, et al. Progress and promise: highlights of the international expert consensus on the primary therapy of early breast cancer 2007. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:1133–1144.
2. Ferlay J, Autier P, Boniol M, et al. Estimates of the cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 2006. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:581–592.
3. Humber CE, Tierney JF, Symonds RP, et al. Chemotherapy for advanced, recurrent or metastatic endometrial cancer: a systematic review of Cochrane collaboration. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:409–420.
4. Bosetti C, Boffetta P, La Vecchia C. Occupational exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and respiratory and urinary tract cancers: a quantitative review to 2005. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:431–446.
5. Bernardi A, Jirillo A, Pegoraro R, Bonavina MG. Allocation of public sources in oncology: which role can ethics play? Ann Oncol (2007) 18:1129–1131.
6. de Haas EC, Sleijfer DT, Gietema JA. Follow-up of successfully treated testicular cancer patients: consequences of the metabolic syndrome. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:211–212.
7. Bellmunt J, Paz-Ares L, Cuello M, et al. Gene expression of ERCC1 as a novel prognostic marker in advanced bladder cancer patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:522–528.
8. Kendal WS. Suicide and cancer: a gender-comparative study. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:381–387.
9. Ohe Y, Ohashi Y, Kubota K, et al. Randomized phase III study of cisplatin plus irinotecan versus carboplatin plus paclitaxel, cisplatin plus gemcitabine, and cisplatin plus vinorelbine for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: Four-Arm Cooperative Study in Japan. Ann Oncol (2007) 18:317–323.
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