Introduction

For the past 130 years, SNUH has been leading the advancement of medicine in our nation, as the central national hospital that represents South Korea.

SNUH is at the forefront of improving not only the nation’s healthcare but also global medicine
through its network of hospitals that includes SNU Bundang Hospital, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, SNUH Healthcare System Gangnam Center, and Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital (SKSH) located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

SNUH pledges to continuously provide world-class medical service to patients by enhancing the patient-care system and working towards maintaining a comfortable facility
environment At SNUH, all of promise to strive to make our hospital a highly preferred medical facility. Thank you for your continued interest and support.Sincerely.

Specialized treatment

■ Specialized Centers

Brain Tumor Center of Seoul National University Cancer Hospital (SNUCH)

Since we performed the first brain tumor surgery at Seoul National University Hospital in 1957, the Brain Tumor Center has established itself as the best brain tumor center in Korea, performing more than 1,300 brain tumor surgeries and radiosurgery per year. In addition to our abundant clinical experience, we have become recognized as a world-class institution in the field of brain tumors, publishing more than 30 papers annually in international journals focusing on basic and clinical research to defeat brain tumors.

Providing a One-stop Multidisciplinary Management System

For more than 20 years, we have pursued the efficient treatment of brain tumors through a multidisciplinary management system that encompasses the Department of Neurosurgery, Oncology, Endocrinology, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, Pathology, and Neurology. We have the most active multidisciplinary collaboration of any comparable institution in Korea. We perform accurate diagnoses and determine the best treatment based on our extensive experience through the “One-stop multidisciplinary management system” by related medical staff. For patients with primary brain tumor as well as metastatic tumor, we provide treatment at the optimal time through fast and accurate decision-making on surgery, radiosurgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

Determining a careful treatment policy that takes quality of life into account through accumulated clinical experience

Not all brain tumors require treatment. Among brain tumors, there are also benign tumors that progress slowly, or stop progressing. Based on the clinical knowledge of the natural history of these benign tumors we have accumulated over a long period of time, we consider the quality of life of the patients as our top priority when determining the course of treatment.

■ Latest Major Medical Achievement

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 of cancer patients.

We specialize in various neurological complications and auto-immune encephalitis of 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 function is 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 the antibody diagnosis technology and treatment method for autoimmune encephalitis in the country. We are leading the world in the development of new treatment technologies for autoimmune encephalitis.

We relieve the metal pain of cancer patients and their families and help them adapt to life after cancer. 

Our psychiatric oncologists and clinical psychologists with extensive experience deliver an accurate diagnosis on the metal 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 to 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 survive, but also overcome the symptoms caused by cancer and improve their well-being. Symptoms such as edema or pain are no longer a just a 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 such as electromyography and swallowing function tests, rehabilitation exercises such as manual therapy and massage, and related education are provided, and 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 enact “whole-person health management” for improved health and secondary cancer prevention in cancer patients who have completed the active cancer treatment or are doing 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 time come, it is important to take a look back on your life as a whole and rethink your goals by asking yourself, “What is really important to me?” And when you do this work, 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.

The same goes for health crises. Anyone can get 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’ve already achieved. Looking forward, you’ll need to explore how you will manage your health in terms of physical, mental, and social aspects, as well as learn 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