title: [Surgery of the liver and pancreas in Japan--message to the special symposium commemorating Dr. Ichio Honjo].
abstract: About half a century ago, Ichio Honjo performed successful right hepatic lobectomy following ligation of the right hepatic artery and the right branch of the portal vein. That was the world's first successful case of right hepatic lobectomy with preliminary hilar ligation of the right branches of both the hepatic artery and portal vein. In the same year, Honjo carried out a total pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer for the first time in Japan. Since then, marked progress in the surgical fields of the liver and pancreas has been made and appear to have nearly reached the pinnacle. Surgeons in the late half of the 20th century attempted to extend operative interventions and expand surgical fields while devoting themselves to treating incurable diseases. Therefore the period may be called the "challenging era." We are entering the era of evaluation and selection of the procedures most suitable to both the disease stage and each individual patient.
authors.affiliation: Emeritus Professor of Nagasaki University and Shimane Medical University.
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000266:history*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery