LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Thoracic Surgery Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab is a thoracic surgery lab taking on research into light-based lung cancer treatment and lung transplantation.
AboutAbout the lab
The best possible care for patients in Hokkaido, at all times
The Thoracic Surgery Lab performs surgical treatment of diseases inside the chest, including lung cancer, and conducts research on it.
It performs a wide range of operations, from minimally invasive surgery such as thoracoscopic and robot-assisted surgery to extensive operations such as bronchoplasty.
In March 2025, Hokkaido University Hospital was certified as the first lung transplant facility in Hokkaido.
In research, the lab is developing new light-based treatments for lung cancer and treatments to prevent injury after lung transplantation.
Key terms
- Thoracoscopic surgery
- Surgery performed by making small holes in the chest and inserting a camera and thin instruments. It is less burdensome on the body.
- Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy
- A treatment in which a light-sensitive substance is attached to an antibody that binds to cancer cells, and near-infrared light is then applied to destroy the cancer cells.
- Ischemia-reperfusion injury
- Injury that occurs when blood flows again into an organ whose blood flow had stopped. It impairs the function of a transplanted organ.
NewsLab news
Received an Academic Encouragement Award at the joint Hokkaido regional meeting of five respiratory-related societies
A School of Medicine student wins the Top Prize at the HOPES2025 Student Session
Introduction of DRATS, a robot-assisted thoracic surgery method developed by the lab
ResearchResearch themes
The lab devotes effort to both clinical and basic research, aiming to improve treatment outcomes by developing new therapies based on the results. In basic research, it works on near-infrared photoimmunotherapy and lung transplantation. In clinical research, it works on areas such as testing for cancer genes using blood samples.
*Illustrative imagePhotoimmunotherapy for Lung Cancer Targeting a Glycan Marker
The lab is developing near-infrared photoimmunotherapy using an original antibody that recognizes a glycan marker found only on cancer cells (MUC1-Tn). Making use of the effect that, after light irradiation, nanoparticles reach deeper into the tumor more easily, it aims to combine this with a treatment that delivers siRNA. This is joint research with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and others.
*Illustrative imagePhotoimmunotherapy Targeting CD44
The lab is studying near-infrared photoimmunotherapy targeting CD44, a molecule that also serves as a marker of cancer stem cells, in a mouse lung cancer model, and is examining whether the effect extends to distant metastases (the abscopal effect). It also aims to develop a thin fiberscope capable of imaging and treatment at the same time, so that the therapy can be used on tumors deep inside the body.
*Illustrative imageTargeting CD73 to Reawaken Anticancer Immunity
Research using patient specimens has shown that CD73, a molecule that suppresses immunity, is increased in some lung cancers. The lab plans to test, in a mouse lung cancer model, a treatment that combines CD73-targeted photoimmunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to reactivate suppressed anticancer immunity.
*Illustrative imagePreventing Injury After Lung Transplantation
Severe inflammation and ischemia-reperfusion injury immediately after lung transplantation also lead to later chronic rejection. The lab aims to develop a new immunosuppression method to prevent this, using an erythropoietin analog that has cell-protective effects. This is joint research with Gastroenterological Surgery I.
MembersFaculty
The Thoracic Surgery Lab consists of faculty members, hospital staff physicians, and graduate students. Physicians from the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Hokkaido University Hospital also take part in providing guidance.As of 2026
- ProfessorTatsuya Kato
- LecturerMasato Aragaki
- Assistant ProfessorAki Fujiwara-Kuroda-Kuroda
- Assistant ProfessorKazuto Ohtaka
- Project Assistant ProfessorHaruhiko Shiiya
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Thoracic Surgery Lab
Gastroenterological Surgery II LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicinePathophysiology and surgical treatment of gastrointestinal c…
Immunobiology LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineBasic and clinical research on tumor immunology and transpla…
Neurology LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineGenetic analysis and molecular biology of neurological disea…
Tumor Pathology LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineComprehensive research in surgical pathology and human patho…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Lung adenocarcinoma with lepidic growth - low magnification” Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Photoimmunotherapy for Lung Cancer Targeting a Glycan Marker: “Structure of the intact human IgG B12 antibody (PDB 1hzh)” Elisa Fadda / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Photoimmunotherapy Targeting CD44: “Antibody IgG1 structure” Tokenzero / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Targeting CD73 to Reawaken Anticancer Immunity: “Histopathology of poorly differentiated lung adenocarcinoma” Mikael Häggström, M.D. / CC0 (cropped)
- Preventing Injury After Lung Transplantation: “Lung transplant rejection - intermed mag” Nephron / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Gastroenterological Surgery II Lab): “Instruments for laparoscopic Hernia Operation” Anpol42 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Immunobiology Lab): “T Regulatory Cells ( )” NIAID / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Neurology Lab): “Neurological tools” Ali Raheem / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tumor Pathology Lab): “Histopathology of prostate adenocarcinoma involving adipose tissue” Mikael Häggström, M.D. / CC0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.