Lung Cancer Center
Patient-friendly · personalized care system
At the Lung Cancer Center at Seoul National University Cancer Hospital, medical professionals in the Departments of Respiratory Medicine, Thoracic Surgery, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Pathology are striving to provide the optimal diagnosis and treatment for every lung cancer patient. First-time visitors at our center can receive CT and PET scans on the day of the visit, and cooperative care can be also provided on the same day if multidisciplinary consultation is required.
Integrated medical care from the best medical teams
Diagnosis of lung cancer is delivered by the Departments of Respiratory Medicine, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Pathology, surgical treatment is performed by the Thoracic Surgery Department, chemotherapy is performed by Medical Oncology Department, and radiation therapy is performed by the Radiation Oncology Department. With medical care specialized for each field, we strive to provide prompt and accurate integrated medical care for all patients through multidisciplinary care clinic and cooperative consultations and conferences.
Research-centered global hospital
The Departments of Respiratory Medicine, Thoracic Surgery, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and Pathology in the Lung Cancer Center at Seoul National University Cancer Hospital have published numerous research results in various journals including world-class journals. Hundreds of papers including members of our center participating as the first or corresponding author which have been have been published in international medical journals within the recent five years including 2 in New England Journal of Medicine, 1 in JAMA, 1 in Lancet Oncology, 2 in Journal of Clinical Oncology, 14 in Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 10 in Radiology, 3 in International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology-Physics, and 1 in European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
Medical care using cutting-edge technologies
[Respiratory Medicine Department]
The department has been performing ultrasound-guided bronchoscopy since 2010 and non-surgical thoracoscopy since 2014 to realize accurate diagnosis of lung cancer.
[Radiology Department]
With the introduction of cone-beam CT in 2009, the department performs cone-beam CT each year and has been reported to have the highest level of test accuracy in the world’s leading journals. (Refer to the bulletin board for details)
[Medical Oncology Department]
To give patients opportunities to learn the latest treatment methods and receive customized medical care, the department identifies cancer gene mutations by performing multi-gene screening tests with next-generation sequencing and match suitable clinical trials to the patients.
[Thoracic Surgery Department]
For the treatment of lung cancer, the department actively introduces the latest surgical techniques and performs minimally invasive surgeries such as thoracoscopic and robotic surgery. For patients with early lung cancer, lung function preserving sublobar resection is performed to ensure the best treatment results as well as optimal quality of life. Based on our rich clinical experience and research results, our department safely performs various highly-skilled surgeries to provide the best treatment opportunities for patients with advanced lung cancer.
[Radiation Oncology Department]
The department is equipped with ViewRay®, the only real-time MRI-guided radiation therapy system that combines magnetic resonance imaging and radiation therapy in Korea. It is the fourth time in the world to implement this technology and the first outside of the United States. The department also uses the latest diagnostic devices that can perform stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) such as TrueBeam®. Depending on the patient’s condition, various treatment methods such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), stereotactic radiation therapy (SABR, SBRT), stereotactic radiation (SRS), and brachytherapy are performed to improve the treatment outcomes.
[Nuclear Medicine Department]
The department strives to improve the diagnosis and treatment results by utilizing various imaging techniques such as PET/MRI and cutting-edge imaging equipment that can obtain both PET and MRI images, C-11 methionine PET which allows differential diagnosis of tumor and inflammation, and lung perfusion SPECT/CT, which is more useful to predict pulmonary function after surgery in patients with scheduled lobectomy compared to conventional imaging methods.
[Pathology Department]
The department conducts various immunopathology tests and molecular pathology tests to identify the subtypes and determine optimal treatment policies for targeted anticancer and immunotherapy. The department also uses biopsies to confirm the diagnosis of lung cancer. The molecular pathology tests include sequencing to diagnose mutations in EGFR, KRAS, and BRAF genes, and real-time PCR. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is also performed to identify the translocation of ALK, ROS, and RET genes. For personalized anticancer treatments based on precision medical care, we recently introduced a target genome cancer panel test that simultaneously tests for mutations in more than 100 genes using next-generation sequencing.
Trustworthy medical teams and standardized, cutting-edge treatment
It is essential to accurately interpret various information obtained through the examination and evaluate the health condition of each patient to provide an accurate diagnosis of lung cancer and determine the best treatment strategy for each patient. Therefore, success of lung cancer care greatly depends on how experienced and reliable the medical team is. You can count on our medical teams at the Lung Cancer Center at Seoul National University Cancer Hospital.