Abstract
Cancer has been the leading cause of death in Japan since 1981. In order to tackle this situation, the Cancer Control Act was approved in June 2006 and the law has been implemented since April 2007. The basic concepts of the low are 1) promotion of cancer research and utilization of research outcomes, 2) equalization of cancer medical services, and 3) development of cancer medical services to satisfy patients. In order to implement the appropriate cancer policy, the objective data of cancer treatment is indispensable. The DPC (Diagnosis Procedure Combination) scheme can contribute to the development of more appropriate and evidence based cancer policy. In this article, the authors will indicate the usefulness of DPC data in health service planning for cancer medicine, using the data of the Fukuoka Health Care Region.
