Integrated Cancer Care Center
The Integrated Cancer Care Center at Seoul National University Cancer Hospital cares for you.
We are striving to provide integrated care to relieve the mental and physical pain caused by cancer and improve the quality of life under the slogan of “Let’s go back to our life before cancer.” Professionals in support palliative care fields such as cancer pain medicine, cancer rehabilitation medicine, psycho-oncology, cancer neurology, and cancer health management are playing a leading role in patient care, research, and education.
We provide treatment for various neurological complications in cancer patients.
We specialize in various neurological complications and auto-immune encephalitis in cancer patients.
- Neurological complications of cancer patients: The causes of metastasis and changes in brain function by cancer therapy (brain dysfunction, convulsive seizure, headaches) are identified and treated.
- Autoimmune encephalitis/paraneoplastic syndrome: This is a rare and intractable disease that causes inflammation in the brain accompanied by a dysfunctional immune system, which leads to memory loss, convulsive seizure, and mental deterioration. Brain functions are recovered by means of various immune immunotherapy.
Our neurological center is the only center in Korea where medical care is provided by a neuro-oncologist. We are also the only center with antibody diagnosis technology and treatment methods for autoimmune encephalitis throughout the country. We are leading the world in the development of new treatment technologies for autoimmune encephalitis.
We relieve the mental pain of cancer patients and their families to help them adapt to life after cancer.
Our psychiatric oncologists and clinical psychologists with extensive experience deliver an accurate diagnosis on the mental suffering of cancer patients and their families and provide the most appropriate treatment for their conditions. Based on our history of pioneering new advances with the Psychiatric Oncology Clinic, we provide the most effective and easiest solutions customized for each patient for their mental problems, which change as the stage of anticancer therapy progresses from the diagnosis after the treatment. We offer various treatment methods such as medication, in-depth psychological counseling, relaxation therapy, and mindfulness meditation.
We help patients improve the quality of their lives through cancer rehabilitation.
Cancer rehabilitation is a program that helps cancer patients not only to survive, but also to overcome the symptoms caused by cancer and improve their well-being. Symptoms such as edema or pain are no longer a simple problem they have to endure. Up-to-date medical knowledge can be used to find the exact cause of the symptoms for treatment further preventing the same symptoms from reoccurring. Cancer rehabilitation can be started at any stage of treatment after being diagnosed with cancer. Typical symptoms treated at the Cancer Rehabilitation Clinic include lymphedema (severe swelling in arms, legs, neck, etc., mostly associated with surgery), swallowing disorders, gait disorders, numbness in the hands and feet, extreme fatigue, pain in the arms (especially shoulders), and pain in the spine or legs. The latest diagnostic tests including electromyography and swallowing function tests, rehabilitation exercises such as manual therapy and massage, and related education are provided. The related procedures are performed using ultrasound and fluoroscopic apparatus when necessary.
We offer whole-person health management services to improve the health of cancer patients.
We conduct “whole-person health management” for improvement of health and secondary cancer prevention in cancer patients who have completed the active cancer treatment or are in progress of follow-up after the treatment by checking their overall health through the integrated evaluation and analysis based on medical research.
Everyone goes through hard times in our lives. When those times come, it is important to take a look back on your life and rethink your goals by asking yourself, "What is really important to me?” Meanwhile, the process of planning and executing this plan helps you overcome the situation. You also need to strengthen your personal capacities to prevent the crisis from recurring.
This is the same for health crises. Anyone can have serious diseases like cancer. However, to overcome a crisis like cancer and use it as an opportunity to grow, you need to look back at your life and understand what you have already achieved. Looking forward, you will need to explore how you can manage your health in terms of physical, mental, and social aspects as well as learning suitable healthy habits and health management strategies based on your self-analysis. This comprehensive health condition evaluation and management is essential from the time of cancer diagnosis (or immediately after active cancer treatment is completed) to prevent secondary cancer.