Cancer treatment in South-Korea

Due to the presence of multiple tech behemoths that foster advancement in a wide range of disciplines, South Korea is without a doubt one of the most developed and industrialized nations in the world. Because of their eagerness to learn from an early age, Koreans rank among the top OECD nations in reading literacy, mathematics, and science. South Korea also has the most well educated labour force in the developed world thanks to its desire for learning. The nation topped the Bloomberg Innovation Index’s list of the most innovative nations from 2014 to 2019. Cancer treatment in South-Korea is considered to be with at par with the best cancer hospitals in the world. Top cancer hospitals in South-Korea uses latest technology and drugs to treat advanced and recurring cancer cases. 

South Korea is also the home of cutting-edge medicine in addition to tech behemoths. South Korea provides highly affordable first-world therapies for conditions like cancer, heart and vascular disease, and organ transplants. Additionally, the medical industry in South Korea is renowned for providing excellent services in other fields like plastic surgery and dentistry.

The South Korean healthcare system is 94% private, while the universities often oversee the remaining public healthcare facilities.

The Korea International Medical Association published a report outlining the rise of medical tourism as a result of the foreign patient legislation bill in 2009. This report was in regards to providing treatment for patients globally. With the help of this law, international patients and their families will be able to get longer-term medical visas, and local hospitals will be allowed to promote medical tourism to foreigners. As a result, South Korea now serves as a host nation for those seeking high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare services.

As a result, since 2009, there have been an average of 22.7% more international patients seeking medical care in South Korea. Since South Korea is one of the most renowned healthcare service providers globally and, statistically speaking, offers one of the best prospects for life and recovery, patients from all over the world are looking to begin treatments there.

According to the Korean government, breast cancer has a survival rate of 90.6% and thyroid cancer has a rate of 99.7%. Additionally, cancer mortality is steadily declining, with declines of 19% in 2006 and 21% in 2008. With these figures it can be said that cancer treatment in South-Korea is at par with the best cancer hospitals in the world.

These high survival rates can be attributed to South Korea’s ongoing research as well as to the country’s excellent medical care, technological breakthroughs in medicine, government-sponsored screening and diagnosis programmes, and government efforts in general.

In terms of developing and utilising proton beam radiation, Korea leads the globe. In order to irradiate the human body and damage the DNA within cancerous tumours, proton therapy uses hydron ions, which are 1800 times heavier than electrons. These ions are accelerated by a cyclotron. One of the most well-known cancer treatment methods in Korea is proton therapy, which is offered at the National Cancer Center in Korea.

As demonstrated above, South Korea not only provides some of the most sophisticated cancer treatments and organ transplants, but it also does it for less money than other industrialized nations. According to studies, a US patient obtaining the best medical care in South Korea should expect to pay between 30% and 80% less than he would in the US for the identical procedure.

Breast cancer treatment in South-Korea

CancerFax has a lot of experience working with different Korean institutions. We value our patients’ experiences very much. As a result, our coordinators thoroughly evaluate the hospitals, physicians, and medical personnel. This wealth of knowledge enables us to offer personalised advice based on the diagnosis and preferences of our clients.

NOTE: A few hospitals in Korea treat cancer with an experimental form of therapy called NK (natural killer) cells. Utilizing your own NK cells is this way. Cells are collected using standard blood collection methods, multiplied by millions in the lab, and then intravenously injected back into the patient. Utilizing your own immune system to combat cancer is made easier by this technique. Suitable for cancer patients in both the initial stage and the terminal stage.

Since the breast is located in close proximity to vital organs, a detailed examination is carried out to determine the stage of disease spread and the presence of metastasis.

Preliminary treatment plans in Korea for breast cancer

Lung cancer treatment in South-Korea

The Lung and Esophageal Cancer Center at Asan Hospital is the location we suggest as the primary choice for lung cancer treatment in South Korea. In South Korea over the past ten years, the institution has first and foremost performed the most lung cancer procedures.

The Cancer Center employs medical professionals from the departments of pulmonology, haematology, oncology, thoracic surgery, radiation oncology, radiology, pathology, and nuclear medicine. They are able to attain the lowest death rates in South Korea because to this combined treatment strategy.

Another outstanding medical facility in South Korea for the treatment of lung cancer is Samsung Hospital. Additionally, the Lung Cancer Center favours a comprehensive approach to care. To lessen the negative effects of chemotherapy, great effort has been made to improve its quality.

14% of all cancer cases are lung cancer, according to the oncology field. This form of cancer is the second most prevalent among all cancers, after prostate cancer, which is more common in males than women. Moreover, one-fourth of all cancer-related fatalities are attributable to lung cancer. Lung cancer affects 1 in 14 men and 1 in 17 women, despite the fact that smokers have a higher risk of developing it.

Lung cancer can be of two primary forms. About 10% to 15% of instances of lung cancer are small cell lung cancer, or SCLC. NSCLC, often known as non-small cell lung cancer, is the second form. Doctors categorise this into three groups (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma). It accounts for 80–85% of the cases.

Typically, lung cancer cells begin their growth in the bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli that line the lungs (lung parts). The cells begin to outgrow their normal size and create a tumour that runs the danger of metastasizing to other parts of the body. Early illness detection is essential. Unfortunately, few instances have obvious symptoms, which makes identification challenging.

In addition, many patients delay medical testing by mistaking the symptoms of cancer for those of other respiratory illnesses. It is advised that adults aged 55 to 74 who have smoked more than 30 packs of cigarettes (about) in the last 15 years contact their doctors and consider medical screening.

Liver cancer treatment in South-Korea

We have a lot of experience working with many hospitals in Korea. We value our patients’ experiences very much. As a result, our coordinators evaluate the performance of medical facilities, practitioners, and employees in-depth. CancerFax’s wealth of knowledge enables it to offer personalised advice, taking the patient’s diagnosis and preferences into account.

NOTE: A few hospitals in Korea treat cancer patients with an experimental kind of NK cell therapy. Utilizing our own NK cells is this way. The typical blood collection method is used to extract cells. The cells are then multiplied by millions in the lab and given returned to the patient intravenously. Utilizing your own immune system to combat cancer is made easier by this technique. Suitable for cancer patients in both the early stages and the terminal stages.

There are two different approaches to treating liver cancer: radical and conservative.

The surgical removal of the tumour, liver transplantation, and tumour ablation are the first radical methods of treatment (ethanol, radiofrequency waves, etc). In addition to liver cancer, cirrhosis and advanced hepatitis are other conditions for which liver transplantation is advised as a treatment. In Korea, only living related donors are used for liver transplants on international patients.

Second, the conservative approach entails proton therapy, radiation, chemotherapy, and trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Doctors advise using harsh treatments when liver cancer is still in its early stages. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to use them in the later stages of detection. As a result, medical professionals employ conservative techniques to stop the tumor’s growth and further shrink it. After that, surgery can be done or efforts can be made to make the patient as comfortable as possible while extending their life.

Authorities authorise novel immunotherapy medications, targeted therapies, and other cutting-edge liver cancer treatment options every year as a result of new research and testing that emerges in the field. A recent illustration is the immunotherapy medicine Tecentricic (Atezolyumab) in combination with Avastein (Bevacizumab), which the U.S. Food and Therapeutic Administration approved as a level 1-level drug in May 2020 for the treatment of inoperable liver cancer. The technique will soon be approved in Korea after passing through a number of procedures this year.

Top cancer hospitals in South-Korea

Website: https://eng.amc.seoul.kr/gb/lang/main.do

Asan medical centre, Seoul

Based on genetic and clinical data, a patient’s unique cancer, environment, and lifestyle, precision medicine customises therapy. The Asan Medical Center (AMC) Cancer Institute in Seoul, South Korea’s largest cancer treatment facility, collaborates closely with foreign partners to strengthen the country’s position in precision cancer care.

In order to maximise South Koreans’ genome sequencing, the institute and Harvard Medical School’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute established the ASAN Center for Cancer Genome Discovery (ASAN-CCGD) in 2011.

Asan Medical Center, one of South Korea’s top hospitals and led by President Sang-do Lee, has created a number of cutting-edge sequencing approaches, including OncoPanel and OncoMap, by utilising the specialised expertise of the AMC Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine. By 2018, AMC was handling half of South Korea’s cancer patients’ next-generation sequencing needs.

The Bio-Resource Center, a biobank of human samples for basic, translational, and clinical research, is led by the AMC Cancer Institute and houses more than 500,000 high-quality samples from around 100,000 patients.

The largest hospital in South Korea was established in 1989 and is called Asan Medical Center (AMC) in Seoul. It specialises on heart surgery, cancer, cardiology, and organ transplantation. 90% of all organ transplants in South Korea are successful, with Asan Medical Center performing almost half of all heart transplants.

Patients with liver cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, brain tumours, herniated discs, and benign prostatic hyperplasia go from all over the world to Asan Medical Center every year in order to receive better care and increase their chances of survival.

A Cancer Institute that creates treatments for Breast cancer, Lung cancer, Blood cancer, and Bone cancer is a part of Asan Medical Center. The medical staff of the Asan Cancer Center is highly skilled and focused on treating cancers of the head and neck, stomach, intestines, liver, and lymph nodes. Each year, they carry out 1500 laparoscopic tumour removals, 1900 procedures for people with stomach cancer, and 2 000 surgeries for people with breast cancer. The breast is saved in about 70% of breast cancer procedures. If the breast is not preserved after 30% of the surgeries, the doctors reconstruct the breast using implants.

Website: https://www.samsunghospital.com/gb/language/english/main/index.do

Samsung medical centre, Seoul

The Samsung Medical Center (SMC) was established in Seoul in 1994 with the mission of enhancing the health of the country by providing the greatest medical care, leading-edge medical research, and training exceptional medical professionals. Since its founding, Samsung Medical Center has succeeded in achieving its objective by rising to the top among hospitals that put the needs of their patients first.

Patients from throughout the globe visit Samsung Medical Center every year for treatment of a wide range of cancers, including cervical cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, epilepsy, lung cancer, and brain tumours.

Samsung Medical Center (SMC) is defining a new hospital culture in Korea by being the best hospital in terms of hi-tech medical services and by providing genuine patient-centered medical services, such as the shortest wait times in the country. SMC is equipped with advanced medical service infrastructure, including outstanding medical staff, order communication system (OCS), picture archiving communication system (PACS), clinical pathology automation system, and logistics automation system.

Cost of cancer treatment in South-Korea 

Cost of cancer treatment in South-Korea typically starts from around $ 25000 USD and may up to $500,000 USD depending upon the type of cancer and therapies used. For example cost of bone marrow transplant in South-Korea is around $ 300,000 USD. Typically cost of cancer surgery in South-Korea may started from $ 15000 USD and can up to $ 150,000 USD.