Overview of Legal Systems in the Asia-Pacific Region: Japan

This article provides a general description of the legal system of Japan. It further discusses aspects of legal education and legal practice in that country

On International Economic Crime Regulation Governed by the Administration : A Review for Studies on Money Laundering Regulation (<Featured Theme>Review Articles on the Law of International Relations)

近年活発に行われている国際経済犯罪規制は, 犯罪の客体である金融が極めて高い移動性を有することに伴い, 領域性原理を基盤とした国際刑事法体系に修正を迫りつつある. 国際刑事法学の現実適合性を維持するために, 国際経済犯罪の規制態様を理論的に定位する上では, 刑事規制を行政統治の側面から把握しなおすことが有用である. このような試みとして, 例えば近時, 国際統治をグローバル行政法による規律として捉えた上で, グローバル行政法が伝統的な国際法枠組に与える影響を解明しようとする研究が増加している. 本論文は, それら最新の研究動向を手がかりとしながら, (i)国際法と国内法の区分が相対化することにより引き起こされる正統性と実効性の問題が国際経済犯罪規制との関連でどのように表出するかについて, また, (ii)行為主体の理論的定位が国際経済犯罪規制との関連でどのような形で可能であるかについて, 関連する問題群を整理し, 国際刑事法の観点から国際経済犯罪規制の理論化をなす必要性を強調する.Increasing regulation on international economic crime (IEC), of which nature is highly functional, does not seem to fit in traditional territorially-based international criminal legal system. Since IEC regulations are lead by administrative branch, it is useful to analyze it from the perspective of administrative governance. Recent years have seen increasing scholarly works of global administrative law (GAL), which attempt to explore the impact of GAL on traditional framework of international law. This article reviews the latest works on IEC regulation and deals with questions such as; (i) how the problem of legitimacy and effectiveness appears when the distinction between international law and domestic law melts down, and, (ii) how non-state actors in IEC regulation systems could be theorized under international legal system. It thus contends the importance of studies on IEC regulation from the standpoint of international criminal law

Overview of Legal Systems in the Asia-Pacific Region: Japan

This article provides a general description of the legal system of Japan. It further discusses aspects of legal education and legal practice in that country

Lifespan shortening after exposure of mice at fetal, childhood and adulthood periods to gamma-rays and carbon ions

Background: There are insufficient data at present on cancer risk after exposure of heavy ions, to the fetal and childhood periods. Using animal models, we studied the age-at-exposure effects of heavy ions on cancer induction and lifespan shortening for radiation protection for fetuses and children. \nMaterials and Methods: Fifty female and male B6C3F1 mice per group were exposed to gamma rays (137Cs) or carbon ions (13 keV/&#181;m) at various ages from fetal to mature adulthood periods. Mouse ages at the time of irradiation included pre-implantation (3 days post-conception (dpc)), major organogenesis (13 dpc), late fetal (17 dpc), neonatal (1 week after birth), infantile (3 weeks), young adulthood (7 weeks) and mature adulthood stages (15 weeks). The doses ranged between 0.2 and 4 Gy for gamma rays and 0.2 and 2 Gy for carbon ions. The mice were observed until moribund and their lifespan and the developed cancers were analyzed.\nResults and Discussion: Our study indicated that female mice appeared to be more susceptible to radiation-induced lifespan shortening than male mice. Effect of gamma-rays on lifespan shortening was more manifested when irradiated at neonatal than adult stage. Surprisingly, irradiation with gamma rays at the late fetal stage had little influence on lifespan shortening compared to infant and adulthood exposures. On the other hand, carbon ions were more potent in reducing lifespan than gamma rays when female neonatal mice were exposed. When carbon ions were exposed, however, fetuses were as susceptible as infants. The results on the lifespan shortening suggest a larger RBE of carbon ions for fetuses than later stages. The RBE of carbon ions for reducing the tumor-free survival rate was ~1.0 for fetuses, suggesting that RBE of 13keV/&#181;m carbon for cancer induction is 1.0 ~ 1.5 irrespective of age-at-exposure.14th International Congress of Radiation Researc

Clinical Benefits of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Recent success of systemic therapeutic agents, including combination immunotherapy, could promote a change in the treatment strategy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is a treatment option for advanced HCC in Japan, it is not recommended by other guidelines. We discuss the clinical benefits of HAIC compared to sorafenib. The clinical benefits of HAIC are as follows: (1) even a patient with Child–Pugh B HCC (7 or 8 points) is a candidate for HAIC (2) Child–Pugh scores barely decline with the use of HAIC compared with sorafenib (3) HAIC is highly effective in patients with vascular invasion compared with sorafenib; and (4) survival in patients receiving HAIC may not be associated with skeletal muscle volume. In contrast, the disadvantages are problems related with the reservoir system. HAIC has clinical benefits in a subpopulation of patients without extrahepatic metastasis with Child–Pugh A HCC and vascular invasion (especially primary branch invasion or main portal vein invasion) or with Child–Pugh B HCC

Impact of skeletal muscle volume on patients with BCLC stage‐B hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing sorafenib therapy

Abstract Aim Skeletal muscle volume has been reported to be an important factor that determines overall survival (OS) and post‐progression survival (PPS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the impact of skeletal muscle volume on HCC with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B (BCLC‐B) remains unclear. We conducted sub‐analyses of a previous study on BCLC‐B and compared our findings with data on HCC with BCLC stage C (BCLC‐C). Methods We retrospectively enrolled 356 patients with HCC (BCLC‐B, n = 78; and BCLC‐C, n = 278) undergoing sorafenib therapy. Prognostic factors were analyzed using various parameters, including skeletal muscle volume. Muscle volume (MV) depletion was designated as less than the median value of the skeletal muscle index for each gender (cutoff value: 45.0 cm2/m2 for male and 38.0 cm2/m2 for female participants). Results Both OS and PPS showed no significant differences in patients with non‐MV depletion and those with MV depletion in the BCLC‐B group (Median OS [MST] 19.3 vs. 13.5 months [p = 0.348]; median PPS 9.7 vs. 10.8 months [p = 0.578]). In the BCLC‐C group, patients with non‐MV depletion had a significantly longer OS and PPS compared to patients with MV depletion (MST 12.4 vs. 9.0 months [p = 0.001] and median PPS 7.9 vs. 5.4 months [p = 0.002]). Multivariate analysis revealed that MV depletion was an independent prognostic factor of OS and PPS in the BCLC‐C group but not in the BCLC‐B group. Conclusions Skeletal muscle volume showed little impact on the clinical outcomes of patients with BCLC‐B undergoing sorafenib therapy

Combination Assay of Methylated HOXA1 with Tumor Markers Shows High Sensitivity for Detection of Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Patients with hepatitis virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (viral HCC) are decreasing as hepatitis control improves, but those with non-viral-related HCC (non-viral HCC) are increasing in Japan. No established surveillance system exists for patients with non-viral HCC, so they are often diagnosed at an advanced stage. To address this, we performed this study. Methods: We collected serum samples from 516 participants (154 healthy subjects, 93 chronic liver disease [CLD] patients without HCC, and 269 HCC patients). Participants were divided into a control group comprising healthy subjects and patients with CLD and an HCC group. We evaluated serum methylated HOXA1 (m-HOXA1) copy numbers using modified combined restriction digital PCR (CORD) assay (1-step CORD assay). We assessed diagnostic performance of m-HOXA1 compared to HCC tumor markers alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) and created a novel index to improve HCC prediction. Results: Serum m-HOXA1 level was significantly higher in each HCC stage group versus the control group. Its sensitivity was 69.1% and specificity was 78.5% for diagnosing HCC. The area under the curve (AUC) of m-HOXA1 was superior to that of AFP and equal to that of DCP. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed independent contributions of m-HOXA1, DCP, and AFP, in that order of strength, to diagnose HCC after adjustment for age and sex. We designated the predictive probability of HCC based on the regression model as the ASDAm-H1 (Age, Sex, DCP, AFP, and m-HOXA1) index. Its diagnostic accuracy was 0.96 by AUC with a sensitivity of 86.2% and specificity of 93.9%. Sensitivity was identical for viral and non-viral HCCs. When limited to early-stage HCC, sensitivity of the ASDAm-H1 index was 76.3%. Conclusions: We showed distinguished performance of the ASDAm-H1 index to detect viral and non-viral HCC even at an early stage. This index might have potential as a non-viral HCC surveillance system