The present issue of the International Journal of Cancer is the last to appear under my editorship. I am very pleased that an eminent scientist, Professor Harald zur Hausen, Heidelberg, Germany, has accepted the role of editor for subsequent issues. The coincidence of my departure with the end of the century was decided long ago and is, of course, fortuitous.
It is a tradition of the International Union against Cancer to move the editorial office of its periodical to the various countries of its member organizations. At the 13 th UICC Congress in Seattle, WA, in 1982, I was elected to succeed Professor E. Saxe `n, Helsinki, Finland. I sincerely thank the UICC authorities for the confidence then vested in me.
From the start, it was clear to me that my task involved the efficient contribution to the international dissemination of newly acquired, significant knowledge in all fields relating to malignant disease. Thus, I did my utmost to show clearly that IJC was a forum open to all, regardless of country of origin or world region. This has essentially been done in 2 ways: firstly, by consulting the best possible experts for evaluating the scientific quality of material submitted for publication, whatever their national location; secondly, by actively helping to solve language-related problems in the contributions from scientists whose mother tongue was not English; here again, the scientific quality and originality of the message justified the effort.
The central point-that of insuring a fair evaluation of the scientific merit of what the Journal published-has essentially been based on rather classic peer-reviewing, which still appears to be the best choice despite its well-known weaknesses. Classic peer-review, if not ideal, may however further gain from the constant improvement in the techniques of management and handling of scientific data, thus answering, at least in part, some of the usual arguments of its detractors. For a primary research periodical like IJC, this materializes at three main levels: firstly, the accurate selection as reviewers of scientists who are best qualified and at the leading edge of advanced knowledge; secondly, the rapid consultation of the selected experts; and thirdly, seeking evaluations across oceans, seas or at least national borders, thereby decreasing the risk of partiality and inner circle-related bias.
Good or bad, the adopted procedures have led to the growth of IJC. Out of a grand total of over 20,000 manuscripts submitted and evaluated since 1983, nearly 2,200 were received in 1999, or about 5 times the number of submissions in 1983. The number of manuscripts submitted has steadily been increasing by 10% per year during this entire period. On the other hand, it has been decided not to increase the volume that the Journal actually printed, which has remained the same for the last 4 years. The clear result is that the selection process for manuscripts accepted for publication has become tougher and, consequently, their average quality has increased. This is reflected in the usual citation rating parameters, whatever their meaning may be. In turn, attracting, selecting and publishing scientifically valuable material heightened the responsibility of the editors to insure the reliability and the significance of the Journal's contents, particularly in a speciality field as sensitive as the study of cancer.
Basic research does not entirely satisfy those who have to face the reality of malignancy in or around themselves, whether in some undefined future or at the present time. Even if the knowledge of the cellular targets of our weaponry remains fragmentary, the need to exploit any possible clinical application is constant and acute. For these reasons, a rather large part of the IJC pages has been assigned to clinically applicable results, particularly when based on recently acquired technological progress. This explains why approximately 150 reports per year that deal broadly with markers that have or may have a significant predictive value in various types of malignancies now appear in the 6 issues per year of a specialized thematic subsection of IJC-''Predictive Oncology''-which I was able to introduce in 1995. The core Journal itself, in 24 issues, reports results of fundamental oncological research, both experimental and human. Epidemiological studies, either large or very large, and whether focused or not on particular organ targets, approach questions directly related to human cancers, and have thus been given particular attention.
Fulfilling my task has required the help of many colleagues. My particular appreciation goes to: