Cancer experts from Korea and Japan have joined forces to improve the quality of life for cancer patients through advances in palliative care.

Korean Academy of Supportive Care in Cancer (KASCC), a research group under the Korean Society of Medical Oncology (KSMO), said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Japanese Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (JASCC) in Saitama, Japan, on May 18.

The signing ceremony was attended by Florian Scotté, President-Elect of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), who is the head of the Interdisciplinary Department for the Organization of Patient Pathways (DIOPP) at Gustave Roussy in France. 

Under the MOU, KASCC and JASCC agreed to hold a joint symposium annually at each society’s conference.

Earlier on March 23, the two cancer societies held a joint symposium on two different research environments in Korea and Japan at the 2024 KASCC conference.

On the same day of the MOU signing ceremony, the two societies held a joint symposium on cachexia, one of the latest supportive care therapies in Korea and Japan, at the 2024 JASCC conference in Saitama, Japan.

“Through our continued collaboration with the JASCC, we will be able to strengthen the network of cancer palliative and supportive care in Asia,” said KASCC President Kang Jung-hun.