The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Kanazawa Medical University was established in 1972 by Professor Soryu Kuwabara, the department's first chair. Professor Satoru Makinoda succeeded in 1997, and Professor Toshiyuki Sasagawa is the 3rd chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN).
In perinatal care, we work with the Departments of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery. Within Ishikawa Prefecture, we treat pregnant women with severe conditions. For the entire Hokuriku District, we treat babies with congenital anomalies and their mothers. We launched prenatal diagnosis with non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in 2018 and added the maternal-fetal intensive care unit (MFICU) to our ward. We conduct surgeries for both benign and malignant tumors and provide radiotherapy and chemotherapy for malignant tumors.
Furthermore, we provide advanced, non-invasive treatments such as chemical peeling to treat premalignant lesions of the cervix, embolization, hysteroscopic surgery and laparoscopic myomectomy to treat uterine fibroids (myoma), and laparoscopic sacropexy to treat uterine prolapse. We started offering robotic surgery in 2019, and in cooperation with the Regenerative Medicine Center, we also provide cancer immunotherapy to patients with advanced cancer. In addition, we offer hormonal therapy for dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, irregular menstruation, and menopausal or geriatric syndromes. We try our best to provide optimal care to improve patients' QOL with integrative medicine using Chinese herbal medicine along with Western medicine. OBGYN is not just a department for obstetrical delivery or treating tumors. It provides healthcare for women of all ages, from adolescence to old age. Both in medical care and education, we always follow KMU's mission, "Develop Good Doctors," and provide regional medical support in the Noto area.
In research, we study the immune response in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer, application of a human papillomavirus (HPV) test for cancer screening, comprehensive analyses of HPV-related diseases and HPV types, BCG-CWS cancer immunotherapy, endometrial carcinogenesis and cell competition, cytologic diagnosis of cancer using peripheral blood, oncogenic mechanism of endometriosis, premature delivery and intravaginal bacterial flora, among others. Most of our HPV-related research is conducted by the endowed chair (OBGYN Microorganism/Cancer Immune Research Division) in the Medical Research Institute of KMU. In cooperation with the Department of Anatomy, we would like to conduct research on the placenta, which has functions still not completely understood.
In the Graduate School of Medical Science, many international students and doctors from our department have graduated and received their Ph.D. Please contact us for questions about the content of our research.

Contact Information

TEL: 076-218-8143 / FAX: 076-286-2629 / Email:

Faculty

Research Achievements

Research Activities

• Long-term treatment of endometriosis with dienogest for up to five years. Takagi H, Sakamoto J, Sasagawa T. Clin Exp Obstet. Gynecol. 2019 XLVI:338-402.
• The promise of combining cancer vaccine and checkpoint blockade for treating HPV-related cancer. Shibata T, Lieblong BJ, Sasagawa T, Nakagawa M. Cancer Treat Rev. 2019 Aug;78:8-16.
• Single type infection of human papillomavirus as a cause for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cancer in Japan. Sakamoto J, Kamiura S, Okayama K, Okodo M, Shibata T, Osaka Y, Fujita S, Takata E, Takagi H, Takakura M, Sasagawa T. Papillomavirus Res. 2018 Dec;6:46-51.
• Utility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant gynaecological tumours. Takagi H, Sakamoto J, Osaka Y, Shibata T, Fujita S, Sasagawa T. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2018 Feb 5.
• Comparison of the digene hybrid capture 2 and Roche cobas 4800 HPV tests for detection of CIN2+ in a referral population in Japan. Sasagawa T, Maehama T, Osaka Y, Sakamoto J, Shibata T, Fujita S, Takakura M, Takagi H. J Med Virol. 2018 May;90(5):972-980.

External Research Funding

• HPV Investigator Studies Program, MSD K.K., 2020
  “Changes in the prevalence of oncogenic HPV types after introduction of a prophylactic HPV vaccine program in Japan.”
  Principal Investigator: Toshiyuki Sasagawa
• Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 2020-2022
  “Role of cell competition in prevention of endometrial carcinogenesis using organoid culture of the endometrium.”
  Principal Investigator: Masahiro Takakura
• Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 2020-2021
  “Detection of circulating tumor cells targeting Telomerase and Survivin in gynecologic cancer.”
  Principal Investigator: Emi Takata
• Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 2019-2022
  “Investigation of carcinogenic human papillomavirus infection using a novel PCR targeting E6/E7 gene in Japan.”
  Principal Investigator: Jinichi Sakamoto
• Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 2019-2021
  “Development of the AI system to diagnose cervical abnormality using iPhone for prevention of cervical cancer in the developing countries.”
  Co-Investigator: Toshiyuki Sasagawa

Links

• Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology
• Japan Society of Perinatal and Neonatal Medicine
• Japanese Society for Sexually Transmitted Infection
• The Japanese Society of Clinical Cytology