Thyroidologists Continue Research to Provide World Benefits
Thyroid diseases rank second after diabetes among endocrine-related diseases and are fast gaining recognition as high-risk diseases. The International Thyroid Congress is a joint meeting of the Asia and Oceania Thyroid Association (AOTA), the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the European Thyroid Association (ETA), and the Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS). It is held once every five years at different locations around the world.
The 12th International Thyroid Congress (ITC 2000) is organized by the Local Organizing Committee, the Japan Thyroid Association (JTA), and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation. It features the results of the latest in basic and clinical researches.
The ITC 2000 opened on October 23, 2000 at the Kyoto International Conference Hall in Kyoto with about 900 participants from Japan and oversees in attendance. The opening ceremonies started with the introduction of the Master of Ceremonies Dr. Shunichi Yamashita, Chairman of the Social Program Committee, who then called up Dr. Junji Konishi, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, who gave the opening address declaring the beginning of the congress. Dr. Shigenobu Nagataki, President of this 12th ITC, was then introduced who greeted and expressed his gratitude to all in attendance. He reflected upon the enjoyments he has had studying the fascinating thyroid gland and looks forward to the role it will play in the medicine of tomorrow.
Next, all present were honored by the presence of royalty as His and Her Imperial Highness Prince and Princess Takamado were introduced. They entered to a standing ovation and the Prince gave a kind greeting and expressed his sincere pleasure in being asked to attend. After expressing his interest in medical sciences, he admitted his lack of knowledge in the thyroid gland but found all that he has learned in the past few days extremely interesting.
Next to stand at the podium was Dr. Hideo Shinozaki, the Director-General of the Health Service Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare. After Dr. Shinozaki talked about his excitement and honor to be a part of the ITC, Isao Kimura, Vice-Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, was then introduced who gave a speech welcoming all to Kyoto.

Dr.Martin I. Surks President, ATA	Dr.Jacques Orgiazzi President, ETA	Dr.Rui M.B. Maciel President, LATS

Finally, Dr. Martin I. Surks, President of the ATA, gave a speech greeting all who came and personally thanked the Prince for his cordial remarks. He also extended his gratitude to the sister societies for their help in organizing this 12th ITC. Each local society has annual conventions where members meet to exchange information, and they forgo this once every five years to have an international convention so that the world can benefit from the research the world's leading thyroidologists are making. The last ITC was held in Toronto, Canada, and Dr. Surks admitted his looking forward to learning what has developed over the past five years, as well as to the week of social events planned. He also again thanked Drs. Nagataki and Konishi, and Dr. Hisao Seo, Chairman of the Program Organizing Committee, and Dr. Kunihiko Ito, Chairman of the Fund Raising Committee, adding that without whom none of this would have taken shape.

Strengthening Thyroidology By Prince Takamado

I look forward to listening to some of the lectures on the latest discoveries and applications after this opening ceremony today. I sincerely hope that this Kyoto congress will be successful and fruitful, and that through free and frank discussion of ideas, you will be able to further strengthen the field of thyroidology. I wish each and every one of you success in your efforts to save or improve the lives of patients and express my hope that the scientific knowledge that we obtain will contribute to a happy, healthy, and peaceful 21st century.

The Mysteries of Thyroid By Dr. Shigenobu Nagataki, President, ITC 2000

Many of us have been working on the mystery of the thyroid gland for many years and we still enjoy every minute of studying this fascinating gland. Because, first of all, thyroid diseases are very interesting in terms of clinical medicine and play an important role in public health as well. Hormone synthesis, transport, metabolism, and biological effects are examples of very attractive endocrinology, and the thyroid gland provides ideal tools for the study of basic biologies, such as immunology and oncology, in combination with clinical medicine. I hope very much that all the participants will enjoy the discussions on the performance of this thyroid gland, which fascinates us all, at this ITC 2000.

Forward to 21st Century By Dr. Junji Konishi, Chairman, Local Organizing Committee, ITC 2000

Among various international thyroid congresses, ITC 2000 is by far the largest event hosted by AOTA and JTA. I am very pleased to have more than 900 registrants in this Congress. I believe ITC 2000 is a valuable forum to reflect on the 20th century and forward to the 21st century. The participants can have an opportunity to focus on rapidly progressing fields such as genetics, hormone action, autoimmunity, and cancer in the thyroid gland. I would also like to remind you about the "Historical Vignette" session on Thursday to look back at the discovery of Hashimoto disease. I sincerely hope every participants will take advantage of the many scientific and social activities arranged for the Congress.

Bringing Congrees to Japan

Dr. Hisao Seo, the Chairman of the Program Organizing Committee, had much to do with the success of bringing the ITC to Japan and putting its programs together. Japan first entered the ITC in the 1965 congress held in Rome, Italy, and its presence has grown ever since. When asked to mention differences from the previous ITC in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Seo answered that now abstracts could be submitted over the Internet, the number of workshops was increased to 36 and symposiums to eight, and eight short-call abstracts with later deadlines were accepted to ensure the latest reports were provided. Dr. Seo supposes the main themes in thyroidology today include the vast progress in molecular biology, new therapies for thyroid cancer, and studies in environmental disruptors. Dr. Seo also mentions that advances in the use of animal models from gene manipulation and other techniques are allowing more efficient and fruitful studies. But behind all the scientific talk, Dr. Seo could not hide his happiness to simply have the world's most distinguished thyroidologists together in one building. Lastly, Dr. Seo also wanted to personally thank the other organizing committee members: Bo Youn Cho, Duncan Topliss, E. Chester Ridgway, Donald L. St. Germain, Rebecca S. Bahn, Robert Di Lauro, Josef Koehrle, Peter Laurberg, Joao H. Romaldini, Nelson Wolhk, and Hugo Niepomniszcze.

A Long Time Leader in a Growing Field

Dr. Jacob Robbins, a senior member and former president of the ATA, considers himself the oldest member of the ITC and is a physician scientist, which he now calls an endangered species due to the continuing divergence of physicians and basic science caused by the recent leaps in technology. He recalls the beginning days of the congress and the first ITC in 1960 in London after the Second World War when concerns were mainly dealing with the development of goiters. A former president of the American Thyroid Association, Dr. Robbins is sort of a father in the field. He had part in the 1965 ITC in Rome, which marked the beginning of the European Thyroid Association, and has seen the creation of the remaining regional thyroid societies in Asia and Oceania and then in Latin America, as well as the International Coordinating Committee, which started in the Boston ITC in 1975. Dr. Robbins is a man who can proudly say he has witnessed and had a part in the development of thyroidology from nearly the beginning of its existence. Much of Dr. Robbins' research started in cancer hospitals where a correlation was found between children developing thyroid cancer and x-ray radiation treatment. Combined with data accumulated in Japan from atomic-bomb victims, detailed quantitative information about the relationship between external radiation exposure and thyroid cancer was obtained. Now Dr. Robbins has retired from his post in the National Institute of Health and spends most of his time in a joint effort between Belarus, Ukraine, and the National Cancer Institute to study victims of the Chernobyl accident and develop quantitative data on the risk of developing cancer from exposure to radioactive iodine, or internal radiation exposure. Dr. Robbins has been to Japan a number of times, and in addition to the excitement of the ITC, is looking forward to a reunion with Japanese colleagues with whom he had the pleasure to work with during his days at the institute in Bethesda, Maryland in the U.S.

A Few Interviews with Distinguished Thyroidologists
ITC 2000 was attended by specialists from around the world. Here some were interviewed about their roles and expectations in thyroidology.

Dr. Terry F. Davies

Dr. Terry F. Davies of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the U.S. told us about two new and exciting happenings concerning autoimmune thyroid diseases. One is new information regarding the role of pregnancy and microchimerism in the alleviation of thyroid diseases. For years now scientists have used GFP-enriched "green" mice to study fetal cells crossing the placenta, but now studying will take place on their connection with the thyroid gland. Dr. Davies was also happy to tell of the use of new technologies to search for the multiple genes responsible for autoimmune thyroid diseases, which are complex diseases. Ascertaining the exact genes responsible will aid in predicting potential victims and also in finding the disease's cause, and hopefully the cure.

Dr. William W. Chin

Dr. William W. Chin from Gene Regulation Research, a Division of Eli Lilly and Company in the U.S. told us about some exciting new insights in thyroid hormone action. Not only are there a number of different hormones secreted by the thyroid gland, but there are also a number of different thyroid hormone receptors, and these combine to create a myriad different effects. Through animal studies involving receptor knock-out techniques and other elegant methods, great progress is being made to see how thyroid hormones work. We are looking forward to a tomorrow not far off where new hormones will be designed to affect, and even aid, areas of the body such as the liver, brain, and heart. Dr. Chin also mentioned that new evidence is showing that thyroid hormones are not only producing effects within the cell nucleus, but the cytoplasm as well. This could open the door to a whole new biology, and that could take us anywhere.

Dr. Furio Pacini

Dr. Furio Pacini of the University degi Studi di Pisa points out that thyroid cancer is the most studied human cancer in the last ten years from the point of view of genetic alterations. The carcinogenesis of thyroid cancer is a multi-step genetic abnormality and most of the genes involved have been discovered. Once all are discovered, the next step is therapy, and possibly even developing a cure. Also, changes in the treating of cancer patients is likely as a new medicine proven effective in several clinical trials to alleviate differentiated thyroid cancer called recombinant TSH is now available. Another major breakthrough in recent years, Dr. Pacini says, resulted from the discovery of the gene responsible for medullary thyroid cancer in 1993. Due to this, prophylactic treatment is being performed successfully where subjects possessing the gene are found and their thyroid gland is removed before the cancer starts. Daily supplementation of the required hormones allows the person to live a completely normal life.

Dr. Basil S. Hetzel

Dr. Basil S. Hetzel of the Women's and Children's Hospital in Australia, president of the 1980 ITC in Sydney, and member of the ICCIDD, an expert non-government organization, talked about his efforts to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders as a cause of brain damage since 1985. Iodine, required by the thyroid for normal hormone secretion, is particularly important to the fetus during pregnancy to prevent brain damage. Thanks to boosted international political awareness from the World Summit for Children held in 1990 at the United Nations in New York, national IDD programs are on the rise with 80 percent of the countries having national programs for IDD elimination. Although an estimated 2.2 billion people are at risk from IDD, two-thirds of these households are now covered by iodized salt by these efforts. Dr. Hetzel calls this an excellent success story for the UN system that the ICCIDD is proud to be a part.