Japanese Cancer Association
Conflict of Interest Policy in Cancer
Research

Version 3 (Created September 2018)

Japanese Cancer Association
Conflict of Interest Committee

Table of Contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 1. Purpose of the Policy ............................................................................ 6
Article 1 (Purpose of Guideline Establishment) ............................................................ 6
Article 2 (What does Conflict of Interest Management Cover?) ................................... 6
Article 3 (Compliance with the Policy) ........................................................................... 7

Chapter 2. Covered Individuals and Activities ....................................................... 7
Article 4 (Covered Individuals) ....................................................................................... 7
Article 5 (Covered Activities) .......................................................................................... 7

Chapter 3. Matters Requiring Declaration and Disclosure.................................... 8
Article 6 (Common Matters Requiring Declaration and Disclosure; Their
Standards)........................................................................................................................ 8
Article 7 (Officers or Employees of the Companies, etc.; Persons Who Used toBelong to the Companies, etc.) ...................................................................................... 9

Chapter 4. Matters to Be Avoided.......................................................................... 10
Article 8 (Matters to Be Avoided by All Covered Individuals) ..................................... 10
Article 9 (Matters to Be Avoided by All Researchers Involved in Researcher-led
Clinical Research) ......................................................................................................... 10

Chapter 5. Procedures for Declaration and Disclosure ...................................... 12
Article 10 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest by Association
Officers, the editors of Cancer Science, Members of the Ethics Committee andthe Conflict of Interest Committee) .............................................................................. 12
Article 11 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest by the Meeting
President, etc.) ............................................................................................................... 12
Article 12 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest by Lead
Presenters and Responsible Researchers Making Presentations at Annual
Meetings, etc.) ............................................................................................................... 12
Article 13 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest in Cancer Science,2etc.) ................................................................................................................................. 13

Chapter 6. Jurisdiction over Conflict of Interest Management ........................... 13
Article 14 (Conflict of Interest Committee) .................................................................. 13
Article 15 (Roles of Officers, etc. and Meeting President, etc.) .................................. 14
Article 16 (Confidential Obligations of the Parties Concerned) ................................. 14

Chapter 7. Handling of Conflicts of Interest ......................................................... 15
Article 17 (Storage, Management, Deletion, and Disposal of Conflict of Interest
Information) ................................................................................................................... 15
Article 18 (Use of Conflict of Interest Information) ..................................................... 15
Article 19 (Disclosure and Publication of Conflict of Interest Information) ............... 15

Chapter 8. Measures Against Guideline Violators and Accountability .............. 16
Article 20 (Measures against Guideline Violators) ...................................................... 16
Article 21 (Issuance of Disciplinary Orders) ................................................................ 16
Article 22 (Filing of Objections Against Actions) ........................................................ 17
Article 23 (Handling of an Objection) ........................................................................... 17
Article 24 (Accountability to Society) ........................................................................... 17

Chapter 9. Policy Revision..................................................................................... 18
Article 25 (Policy Revision) ........................................................................................... 18

Supplementary Regulations .................................................................................. 18
Article 1 (Date of effect) ................................................................................................ 18

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Foreword
The purpose of JCA is to contribute to the development of cancer research and to the public
well-being. The research presented via the JCA’s academic conferences and publications
includes cancer biology, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other areas that are highly specialized
and closely related to one another. Collaboration between academia (including research
institutes as well as universities) and industry (including medical and pharmaceuticalmanufacturers, business ventures, and other for-profit corporations) is an effective way topromote such research in a unified manner and contribute to improving cancer prevention,
diagnosis, and treatment.
In some cases, industry-academic collaborative cancer research entails benefits to society(public interest) from the fruits of discharging academic and ethical responsibility, as well as
money, status, rights, and other benefits (private interest) acquired attendant on
industry-academic collaboration. When these two types of benefit are in conflict within an
individual researcher, it is called a “conflict of interest.” In cancer research, a researcher who
has invented a diagnostic or therapeutic method frequently becomes involved in thecommercialization of that method by a for-profit corporation. The occurrence of conflicts ofinterest is unavoidable, and this in itself is not a problem.
Nevertheless, in cases of serious conflicts of interest, the researcher may be greatly
influenced by personal gains, and the risk of distortion of research methods, data analysis or
result interpretation arises. A situation may also occur whereby fair assessment is not made,even though research findings are appropriate. When research findings are presented atannual meetings and the like, there may be an intentional failure to report specific data
(reporting bias). At the same time, if fairness and objectivity are not secured, evenindustry-academic collaboration that does not involve any serious conflict of interest may
create suspicion and anxiety in society and also disadvantage the researcher.
In response, many academic societies in Europe and North America have established conflictof interest guidelines covering clinical research to ensure appropriate conduct inindustry-academic collaborative clinical research and impartiality in academic presentations.
In the United States, the Sunshine Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act (March 2010) legally require pharmaceutical and medical device companies to disclose all
payments made to physicians and medical institutions, etc. and the content of theseprovisions has been available on the website since 2013.

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In recent years, against a backdrop of increasingly globalized initiatives, research anddevelopment activities concerning the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer havebeen actively pursued on the basis of Japanese, North American, and European joint
research, and conflict of interest management systems have been established in Japan. Oneof the trailblazers in this area is the Guidelines on the Development of Conflict of Interest
Policies for Clinical Research, published in March 2006 by the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology study team on ethics and conflicts of interest in clinicalresearch. In March 2008, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published the Guidelines
on Conflict-of-Interest (COI) Management in Health and Labor Sciences Research (revised in
February 2017), which clearly stated that conflict of interest management must be introduced
for researchers who are planning studies in health and labor sciences. In January 2011, theJapan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA) established the Transparency
Guidelines for the Relation between Corporate Activities and Medical Institutions (revised in
December 2013) and requested each company to disclose information on its website. In
addition, there is an increasing awareness with regards to the public nature and transparencyof the clinical trial results that are published in papers submitted to medical journals, andmany medical journals adopt the common format for conflict of interest declarations that wasestablished by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. In June 2010, JPMA
adopted the “Joint Position on the Publication of Clinical Trial Results in the Scientific
Literature” together with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers andAssociations, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, and
the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
The Association, due to the nature of its activities, has many members who belong to a
corporation and has a good basis for industry-academic collaboration. It is important to
conduct research actively after having clearly indicated conflict of interest policy to members
and ensured fairness in important industry-academic collaborative research and development
projects. In 2009, JCA began to apply the “Policy on Conflicts of Interest in Cancer ClinicalResearch” jointly developed by general incorporated association Japan Society of ClinicalOncology and specified non-profit corporation Japanese Society of Medical Oncology, withnecessary modifications and with the approval of those two organizations. In 2011, JCA
developed its own Conflict of Interest Policy in Cancer Research, following the publication of
the Guidelines for COI Management in Medical Research by the Japanese Association of
Medical Sciences. In the following year, 2012, the Japanese Cancer Association (JCA)
Detailed Regulations on the Handling of Conflict of Interest came into effect. Given the recent
release of a major revision of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences COI

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Management Guidelines (March 2017), JCA integrated its existing policies and detailed
regulations into the Policy.

Chapter 1. Purpose of the Policy
Article 1 (Purpose of Guideline Establishment)
In light of the fact that social responsibility and high ethical standards are paramount in its
activities, JCA hereby establishes the JCA Conflict of Interest Policy in Cancer Research(hereinafter abbreviated as the “Policy”). The purpose of the Policy is for JCA to ensure thatthe presentation and dissemination of research findings, and activities to raise publicawareness of research findings, are appropriately conducted in circumstances where
neutrality and impartiality are maintained by appropriate management of conflicts of interest
with respect to the covered individuals specified by JCA in Article 4, as well as to dischargesocial responsibility by contributing to the advancement of preventing, diagnosing, andtreating cancer.
Article 2 (What does Conflict of Interest Management Cover?)As has been mentioned in the Helsinki Declaration (World Medical Association, revised in2013), medical research differs greatly from research in other academic fields in that, as theresearch subjects are human beings, special consideration is required to protect the rights
and lives of subjects and conduct research safely. Also, the nature of research must not be
distorted by researchers’ conflicts of interest and the like. Nevertheless, there were media
reports in 2012 on the alleged dishonest intervention by a certain enterprise in large-scalecomparative clinical research in Japan. The enterprise was said to have failed to declare its
conflicts of interest and have intentionally manipulated the data to its advantage, and several
papers had to be retracted. Against this backdrop, the Ethical Guidelines for Medical and
Health Research Involving Human Subjects, released by the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in December
2014, required researchers and the like to manage their conflicts of interest and retain
samples and information concerning their research. Furthermore, the Clinical Research Act
took effect in April 2018. This Act provides for clinical research procedures, measures toensure proper reviewing and consulting by an accredited institutional review board and the
publication of information about the provision of clinical research funds and the like. It also
requires responsible researchers to create standards and plans to manage conflicts ofinterest. Meanwhile, in line with the recent global trend of promoting translational research6

(the bridge between basic and clinical research) practices, the scope of conflict of interest
management is expanding to include not only clinical research and studies, but also
industry-academic collaborative research on basic life science. Therefore, JCA is now
including basic research as well as clinical research and studies (including clinical trials andspecified clinical research regulated under the Clinical Research Act) in the scope of conflictof interest management.
Article 3 (Compliance with the Policy)
The crux of the Policy is to highlight the basic concepts of conflict of interest to people
participating in JCA’s undertakings in order to advance the fair and smooth promotion ofindustry-academic collaboration. In addition, the Policy aims to prevent serious conflicts ofinterest, any improper acts associated with such conflicts of interest, and also the suspicion ofsociety. JCA will require its members and the covered individuals specified below to observe
the Policy.

Chapter 2. Covered Individuals and Activities
Article 4 (Covered Individuals)
The Policy applies to all of the following covered individuals for whom a conflict of interest
may arise.
(1) Members of JCA(2) Lead presenters and responsible researchers who give presentations at Annual
Meetings, conferences, symposiums, open lectures for the general public, etc. who aresponsored or co-sponsored by JCA (hereinafter “Annual Meetings, etc.”)(3) All authors who present their papers in JCA’s journal “Cancer Science,” etc.
(4) Officers of JCA (directors, auditors, and committee chairpersons)(5) Members of the Ethics Committee and the Conflict of Interest Committee of JCA(6) Editors of JCA’s journal “Cancer Science”(7) The president and administrative manager of JCA’s Annual Meetings (hereinafter the“Meeting President, etc.”)(8) Spouses and first-degree relatives of the individuals listed in (1) through (7), or otherpersons who share income or property with such individuals (hereinafter the “Relatives,etc.”)
Article 5 (Covered Activities)
The Policy applies to activities in all undertakings concerned with JCA. Persons who givepresentations at Annual Meetings, etc. and in Cancer Science, etc., among others, must7

comply with the Policy in all their basic and clinical research on cancer. Lecturers who
conduct educational lectures (including luncheon seminars) at academic gatherings etc. or
who conduct open lectures for the general public in view of the powerful social influence of
these undertakings must comply especially rigorously with the Policy.

Chapter 3. Matters Requiring Declaration and Disclosure
Article 6 (Common Matters Requiring Declaration and Disclosure; Their Standards)
If any of items (1) to (9) below exceeds criteria with respect to a covered individual who is an
officer of JCA, member of the Ethics Committee or the Conflict of Interest Committee, editor ofCancer Science, Meeting President, etc., lead presenter or responsible researcher at Annual
Meetings, etc., or author of a paper submitted to Cancer Science, etc. (hereinafter an“Individual Required to Make a Declaration”), such an individual shall have the obligation toaccurately declare or disclose by self-declaration the circumstances of the conflict of interestin accordance with the prescribed form. In addition, if any of items (1) to (3) and (9) below
exceeds criteria with respect to the Relatives, etc. of the Individual Required to Make a
Declaration, the Individual Required to Make a Declaration shall have the obligation to declarethe exact circumstances. Even if no item exceeds the criteria, such matter must be declaredand disclosed. The declarer himself/herself shall bear responsibility for the self-declarationand the declared content.
(1) Existence or otherwise of position as an officer of or an advisor (including
consultant, etc.) to companies or for-profit organizations (hereinafter the“Companies, etc.”) shall be declared if the annual value of remuneration from a single
Company etc. is 1 million yen or more. If the declarer’s Relatives, etc. is an employeeof the Companies, etc., this shall also be declared.
(2) Ownership of equities (such as shares and stock options) and profit obtained
from those equities shall be declared if the annual value of profit on shares of a single
Company, etc. (total sum of dividends and proceeds from the sale of shares) is 1
million yen or more, or the proportion of shares owned in the Company, etc. is 5% ormore. Ownership of stock options shall be declared if latent profit from them is 1
million yen or more.
(3) Patent royalties or transfer gains by the Companies, etc. shall be declared if theannual total value received from a single Company, etc. is 1 million yen or more.
(4) Lecture fees, honoraria, or other fees paid by the Companies, etc. for the time orlabor of a researcher engaged for conference attendance (as a lecturer,

8chairperson, ad hoc advisor, etc.) shall be declared if the annual total value
received from a single Company, etc. is 500,000 yen or more.
(5) Manuscript fees paid by the Companies etc. for the writing of pamphlets, etc. shallbe declared if the annual total value received from a single Company, etc. is 500,000
yen or more.
(6) Research funds (such as contract research funds, joint research funds, andclinical trial funds) provided under contract by the Companies, etc. or by
non-profit organizations funded by the Companies, etc. shall be declared if annual
total funds directly paid from a single Company, etc. or organization to the declarer is
1 million yen or more. If the declarer personally receives any consideration from theCompanies, etc., it shall be declared separately.
(7) Scholarship (incentive) endowments provided directly from the Companies, etc. or
research grants provided

directly froma private

academic

supportorganization to an individual declarer or the department (lecture/area ofspecialization etc.) or research facility an individual declarer belongs to, shall bedeclared if a total of 1 million yen or more per year is allocated from such funds froma single Company, etc. or organization to the individual declarer, with substantial
control over its use given to that individual.
(8) An endowed chair etc. funded by the Companies, etc. shall be declared if thedeclarer is affiliated with the chair. A researcher, etc. sent or provided by theCompanies, etc. shall be declared if the declarer is the representative of the researchfacility with which the researcher, etc. is affiliated, regardless of whether or not
employment costs for the researcher, etc. have been accepted.
(9) Any other remuneration (travel expenses, gifts, etc., that are not directly
related to research) shall be declared if the annual value of such remuneration
received from a single Company, etc. is 50,000 yen or more.
Article 7 (Officers or Employees of the Companies, etc.; Persons Who Used to Belong
to the Companies, etc.)
1) An officer or employee of the Companies, etc. (except for a person whose primaryaffiliation is with a university or research institute; hereinafter the same applies) shall not
be obliged to make a self-declaration of conflict of interest under Article 6 of the Policy
except for the matters set forth in the following paragraph; provided, however, that an
officer or employee of the Companies, etc. who presents research findings at JCA Annual
Meetings, etc. or submits a paper in Cancer Science, etc. shall give the name of theCompanies, etc. in the presentation documents, papers, etc. even when he or she is9working as a researcher, research student, adult graduate student, postdoctoral fellow,
part-time lecturer, or the like at a university or research institute other than the Companies,etc.
2) When an officer or employee of the Companies, etc. presents research findings at JCA
Annual Meetings, etc. or submits a paper in Cancer Science, etc., he or she must declare
any conflicts of interest, as defined in Article 6 of the Policy, that he or she has with theCompanies, etc. other than his or her own Companies, etc. in connection with what ispresented.
3) A person who left the Companies, etc. and found a post as a regular or part-time employee
of a university or research institute (such as an adjunct professor) in the past 5 years andis still working on a research theme he or she worked on during employment with theCompanies, etc. must disclose not only the name of the university or research institute, butalso the name of the Companies, etc. when presenting the research findings at JCA
Annual Meetings, etc. or submits a paper in Cancer Science, etc.

Chapter 4. Matters to Be Avoided
Article 8 (Matters to Be Avoided by All Covered Individuals)
The execution of research and publication of research findings should be based on purely
scientific grounds and judgment or the public interest. All covered individuals to whom the
Policy applies must not be influenced by the arbitrary judgment of a company or entity
providing funding for research in decisions on whether to present research findings at
conferences or in research papers or the publication content, namely the research findings ortheir interpretation, and, except as otherwise specified in the Policy, must not enter into any
contracts under which such influence cannot be avoided.
Article 9 (Matters to Be Avoided by All Researchers Involved in Researcher-led ClinicalResearch)
1) If an industry-academic collaborative intervention study on humans is executed byresearchers themselves, all the researchers should avoid the following.
(1) Obtaining non-contractual incentives for acting as intermediaries for or introducing
prospective participants to the clinical research(2) Obtaining non-contractual incentives for accumulating cases over a certain span oftime(3) Receiving travel and accommodation expenses from a fund provider or company forparticipation in academic conferences not related to the research10(4) Obtaining non-contractual performance-based rewards for certain research findings
2) A

responsible

researcherorrepresentative

researcher(representativefor

multi-institutional joint research) who is authorized to make decisions concerning theplanning and execution of researcher-led clinical research must ensure the proper
disclosure of financial relationships with the fund provider involved in the research, andshould use the utmost care to avoid the following matters.
(1) Receiving cash, gifts, etc. for the time and labor spent on the research, except for justcompensation(2) Behaving improperly, such as withholding the name of a company from executionplans or research findings from presentations when a researcher, part-time lecturer,
adult graduate student, or other person affiliated with the company who has been
dispatched to the research institute participates in the research(3) Holding shares in an individual or corporate fund provider of the research or accepting
a position as its officer etc. (except for a scientific consultant, advisor, etc. serving at nocharge)(4) Obtaining patents and patent royalties in connection with the research subject, such as
drugs, treatment techniques, and test methods(5) Becoming involved in situations that allow an individual or corporate fund provider toinfluence data aggregation, storage, statistical analysis, interpretation, and conclusionof the research(6) Concluding agreements that allow the fund provider or an interested company toinfluence decisions concerning the presentation of the research findings at academic
conferences or in the form of a paper
3) Researchers who fall under items (3) to (4) of the preceding paragraph are nonethelesspermitted to serve as responsible or representative researchers for clinical research solong as they are essential to the planning and execution of the clinical research, which isconsidered extremely significant from a social perspective as well, and the impartiality,
fairness and transparency of their judgments and actions are clearly secured. Also, if
agreements that fall under (5) to (6) are accepted, detailed information about the role andinvolvement of the fund provider must be disclosed when the research findings must be
published.

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Chapter 5. Procedures for Declaration and Disclosure
Article 10 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest by Association Officers,
the editors of Cancer Science, Members of the Ethics Committee and the Conflict ofInterest Committee)
1) Officers of JCA, the editors of Cancer Science, members of the Ethics Committee, andmembers of the Conflict of Interest Committee (hereinafter “Officers, etc.”) must declarewhether they had any conflicts of interest in the past 3 years in accordance with thestandards set forth in Article 6 of the Policy. Similarly, a declaration must be made for any
conflict of interest that fulfils the standards and involves the Relatives, etc. of the declarer.
Conflicts of interest that need to be declared shall be limited to those pertaining to theCompanies, etc. related to JCA’s business.
2) Declarations shall be made by submitting the Self-Declaration of Conflict of Interest by
Association Officers (Form 1) to JCA President before taking up the position and annually
thereafter. Persons newly running for directorship must declare their conflicts of interest in
Form 1 when they nominate themselves. In addition, if a new conflict of interest arises
during the period of office, it must be declared in Form 1 within 8 weeks.
Article 11 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest by the Meeting President,
etc.)1) The JCA Meeting President, etc. must declare whether they had conflicts of interest in thepast 3 years in accordance with the standards set forth in Article 6 of the Policy. Similarly,
a declaration must be made for any conflict of interest that fulfils the standards andinvolves the Relatives, etc. of the declarer. Conflicts of interest that need to be declared
shall be limited to those pertaining to the Companies, etc. related to JCA’s business.
2) The Meeting President, etc. must declare the matters set forth in Form 1 to JCA President
in writing before appointment. If they have already declared information as JCA Officers,etc., it shall suffice if they declare only those matters that do not duplicate the alreadydeclared information. If any changes occur in the conflicts of interest of the Meeting
President, etc. during their periods of office, the details of the said changes must be
promptly declared to JCA President. In addition, if a new conflict of interest arises during
the period of office, it must be declared in Form 1 within 8 weeks.
Article 12 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest by Lead Presenters andResponsible Researchers Making Presentations at Annual Meetings, etc.)

121) Lead presenters and responsible researchers who make presentations or give lectures at
Annual Meetings, etc. sponsored or co-sponsored by JCA must declare whether they had
any conflicts of interest with the Companies, etc. related to the presentation subjects in thepast 3 years from the time of subject registration, and give detailed information about theconflicts, in accordance with the standards set forth in Article 6 of the Policy, regardless ofwhether or not they are JCA members. Similarly, a declaration must be made for any
conflict of interest that fulfils the standards and involves the Relatives, etc. of the declarer.
2) Declarations shall be made in advance using Form 2 and shall be disclosed at the time ofthe presentation.
Article 13 (Declaration and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest in Cancer Science, etc.)
The authors of a paper appearing in Cancer Science must declare whether any of the authors
had conflicts of interest with the Companies, etc. related to the paper in the past 3 years fromthe time of posting, and give detailed information about the conflicts, in accordance with thestandards set forth in Article 6 of the Policy and pursuant to the Cancer Science Conflict ofInterest Policy, regardless of whether or not they are JCA members. Similarly, a declarationmust be made for any conflict of interest that fulfils the standards and involves the Relatives,
etc. of the declarer. The details stated in the Disclosure Form shall be published with thepaper. If there is no state of conflict of interest that fulfils the standards, the wording “Theauthors have no conflict of interest” shall be published in the same place. The same shallapply to presentations in JCA publications other than Cancer Science.

Chapter 6. Jurisdiction over Conflict of Interest Management
Article 14 (Conflict of Interest Committee)
The Conflict of Interest Committee shall be composed of a small number of Directors
nominated by the Board of Directors, a small number of Councilors, and at least 1 external
member. JCA President shall nominate the committee chairperson. In accordance with the
Policy, the Conflict of Interest Committee shall be in charge of judgment, management, advice
and guidance for preventing members’ conflicts of interest from becoming serious, and deal
with Policy violations in cooperation with the Board of Directors, the Editorial Committee of
JCA’s Official Journal, and the Ethics Committee in order to promote proper cancer researchthrough industry-academic collaboration. The committee shall also respond to questions andrequests about conflicts of interest, raise conflict-of-interest awareness among the members,
gather information for use in Policy review, and draft Policy revisions.

13Article 15 (Roles of Officers, etc. and Meeting President, etc.)
1) If there arises a serious conflict of interest during the course of the execution of JCA
business by any of the Officers, etc. or Meeting President, etc., or if there arises any doubt
about a self-declaration of conflict of interest made by any Individual Required to Make a
Declaration, the Board of Directors may refer the matter to the Conflict of Interest
Committee and, if necessary, the Ethics Committee (hereinafter the “Committee with
Jurisdiction”; the Committee with Jurisdiction shall always include the Conflict of Interest
Committee) and prescribe remedial measures based on their advice.
2) If research findings are presented at JCA Annual Meetings, etc., the Meeting President,
the editorial manager, and the Conflict of Interest Committee shall make sure that conflictsof interest related to the research, if any, have been declared and disclosed properly. They
may stop any subject inconsistent with the Policy from being presented. In such cases,
they promptly notify the individuals planning the presentation to that effect and provide
reasons.
3) If research findings are published in Cancer Science, editor and associate editor of Cancer
Science shall make sure that conflicts of interest related to the research, if any, have been
declared and disclosed properly. They may stop any article inconsistent with the Policy
from being published. In such cases, they promptly notify the individuals planning thepresentations to that effect and provide reasons. If any violation of the Policy is discovered
after the publication, it may be announced in the publication media etc. in the name of the
Editor-in-Chief. These measures are discussed by the Committee with Jurisdiction andimplemented following approval of the Board of Directors on the basis of the findings.
4) Other committee chairpersons and members shall promptly consider remedial measuresfor Policy violations as they occur in connection with JCA undertakings in which they are
involved. These measures are discussed by the Committee with Jurisdiction andimplemented following approval of the Board of Directors on the basis of the findings.
Article 16 (Confidential Obligations of the Parties Concerned)
Members of the Committee with Jurisdiction and other parties concerned who access thedeclared information on conflicts of interest (such as JCA’s clerical staff in charge, editors,
associate editors and editorial office members of Cancer Science, companies providing
management services for Annual Meetings, etc.) shall have confidentiality obligations for suchinformation permanently, except as otherwise specified in Articles 18 and 19 and except asotherwise justified by laws and regulations.

14

Chapter 7. Handling of Conflicts of Interest
Article 17 (Storage, Management, Deletion, and Disposal of Conflict of Interest
Information)
Conflict of interest information submitted to JCA shall be stored and managed strictly as
personal information at JCA Secretariat with JCA President as the officer responsible for its
management. Conflict of interest information concerning people who have completed a termof office as the Officers, etc. and people whose withdrawal from membership of a committee
has been confirmed shall be deleted/disposed of under the supervision of the officer
responsible for its management when 2 years have passed since the final date of completionof the said term of office. However, if the Board of Directors has deemed that deletion or
disposal is inappropriate, JCA may suspend the deletion or disposal of the conflict of interest
information of the declarer concerned. Conflict of interest information concerning the Meeting
President, etc. shall be handled in the same way as that of the Officers, etc.
Article 18 (Use of Conflict of Interest Information)
Conflict of interest information may be used as needed by JCA Officers, etc. in accordancewith the Policy in order to determine the existence and extent of any conflict of interest
between the individual concerned and JCA’s activities and to process such matters inaccordance with JCA’s judgment. On occasions of such use, use must not exceed the limits
required by the purpose of use, and the conflict of interest information must not be disclosed
to parties other than those to whom disclosure is required in light of the above-mentioned
purpose of use.
Article 19 (Disclosure and Publication of Conflict of Interest Information)
Conflict of interest information shall not, as a matter of principle, be made public. Conflict ofinterest information may be disclosed or published within and outside JCA to the extent
necessary after deliberation by the Board of Directors if such disclosure or publication isneeded for JCA to fulfill its social or moral accountability for any of its activities, including, but
not limited to, the activities of itself, its committees, and its ad hoc committees. However, thisshall not prevent JCA President delegating the said issue to a specific director for its handlingand allowing the said director to make a decision under the advice of the Conflict of Interest
Committee and the Ethics Committee. In such cases, the parties concerned with the conflictof interest information to be disclosed or made public may raise their opinions with the Boardof Directors or the Directors to whom the decision has been delegated. However, this shall not
apply when there is no time to ask for opinions because of urgency in regard to disclosure or
public announcement.

15

Chapter 8. Measures Against Guideline Violators and Accountability
Article 20 (Measures against Guideline Violators)
The JCA Board of Directors has the authority to deliberate on Policy violations and, if itconcludes upon deliberation that the act under review constitutes serious noncompliance with
the Policy, the Board may take one or more of the following measures for a fixed period oftime in accordance with the seriousness of the noncompliance.
(1) Prohibition from making presentations at Annual Meetings, etc. held by JCA(2) Prohibition from publication of papers and articles in JCA’s publications and website,
etc.
(3) Prohibition from serving as the JCA Meeting President(4) Prohibition from participation in JCA’s boards of directors, committees, or working
groups(5) Expulsion from JCA’s Council or prohibition from becoming a councilor(6) Expulsion from JCA or prohibition from becoming a member
Article 21 (Issuance of Disciplinary Orders)
1) If a person required to make a declaration under the Policy fails to do so in the designatedwritten form or submits a false declaration, that person may be punished in accordancewith the provisions of the Policy.
2) If any doubt or social/moral issue occurs with regard to the details of self-declarations ofconflict of interest submitted by authors presenting papers in Cancer Science, etc. or
parties scheduled to give presentations at JCA Annual Meetings, etc., the Conflict ofInterest Committee shall conduct an investigation and review the facts related to the issueand deliver a verdict based on the advice of the Board of Directors in order to fulfill JCA’s
social accountability. The Board of Directors shall respond to the Ethics Committee basedon the verdict received from the Conflict of Interest Committee and provide advice on thedetails of action to be taken. If there is a serious conflict of interest situation and the
responsibility to explain is not fulfilled, JCA may take action such as suspending a
conference presentation by the relevant party scheduled to make a presentation or the
publication of a paper, etc. If any doubt or other issue arises after a paper is presented,
JCA shall investigate the related facts and, if any Policy violation is found, shall consider
disciplinary action such as retracting the published article. In addition, if public trust in JCA
is seriously undermined, JCA may take appropriate disciplinary action in accordance withits bylaws and disciplinary regulations, such as expulsion from JCA, suspension from JCA
activities, and strong warnings.
163) If the Conflict of Interest Committee points out any problem with regard to the conflict ofinterest matters declared by the JCA Officers, etc. or the Meeting President, etc., or its
candidates prior to or after installation, then the Chairperson of the Conflict of Interest
Committee shall report it to JCA President in writing and JCA President may, uponreceiving the report, take appropriate action in cooperation with the Ethics Committee,
including the withdrawal of delegated responsibility to the officers or committee members,
or the disqualification of candidate officers or committee members.
Article 22 (Filing of Objections Against Actions)
A person who has an objection to an action taken under Article 20 or 21 of the Policy may
request a review by submitting a written request to JCA President through JCA Secretariat
within 7 days of receiving notice of the action. Parties raising objections shall state concisely
their specific counter arguments or dissenting opinions to the reasons for the retraction of
responsibility, etc., that JCA President has indicated in writing. In such cases, in addition to
the information disclosed to JCA President, parties raising objections may also present
related information in document form that supports the reason for their objections.
Article 23 (Handling of an Objection)
1) If a request for review is made, JCA President must promptly establish a Conflict ofInterest Issue Appeal Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Review Committee”). The
Review Committee shall be composed of a small number of Directors, a small number ofCouncilors and at least 1 external member nominated by JCA President, and thecommittee chairperson shall be nominated by JCA President. Members of the Conflict ofInterest Committee or the Ethics Committee may not serve concurrently as members of
the Review Committee. The Review Committee shall meet and review the request within
30 days of receiving the review request.
2) The Review Committee shall directly hear the opinions of the chairperson and therequester with regard to the review request. However, this shall not apply if the said parties
do not appear on the date determined for the hearing of opinions.
3) Unless there are special circumstances, the Review Committee shall summarize andsubmit the review results to JCA President within 30 days of the first committee meetingon the case. JCA President shall take the Review Committee’s decisions as final.
Article 24 (Accountability to Society)
When JCA has judged there has been a serious violation of compliance with the Policy inresearch findings presented at a venue in which JCA is involved, JCA will discharge its

17accountability to society following discussion by the Committee with Jurisdiction and Board of
Directors.

Chapter 9. Policy Revision
Article 25 (Policy Revision)
It may be necessary to revise part of the Policy considering individual cases in order toaccommodate social factors, or keep abreast with the amendments and establishment of laws
concerning industry-academic collaborations, and changes surrounding cancer research.
Therefore, the Conflict of Interest Committee may conduct deliberations on possible Policy
revisions and revise the Policy with the resolutions of the Board of Directors and the Board of
Councilors every few years, in principle.

Supplementary Regulations
Article 1 (Date of effect)
The Policy comes into effect on September 28, 2014.
The Policy comes into effect on October 9, 2016.
The Policy comes into effect on September 30, 2018.

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