The South Korean government is launching an initiative to nurture "specialized cancer types" at 13 regional cancer centers nationwide, aiming to overhaul a treatment system heavily concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. The plan goes beyond simple budget support, reassigning roles to each region to build hospitals with competitive strengths in specific cancers and redirect patient flows.
In an interview with the Seoul Economic Daily on Friday, Yang Han-kwang, president of the National Cancer Center (NCC), said, "We plan to visit each regional cancer center in person, analyze local capabilities and demand, and pursue specialization strategies centered on cancer types where each center has strengths." He added, "The key is to create a perception that competitively high-quality treatment is fully available in regional areas."
Currently, cancer treatment in South Korea is structured around a heavy concentration of patients at the so-called "Big 5 hospitals." While basic treatment is available in regional areas, patients and their families often choose Seoul-area hospitals out of vague anxiety. The government has moved to restructure the cancer care system around regional cancer centers to break this pattern.
As part of this effort, the government is pursuing a "specialized cancer type" strategy that leverages each center's strengths. Each regional cancer center will focus its clinical care and research capabilities on areas where it excels, effectively serving as a specialized hospital for specific cancer types. If a regional center demonstrates strong treatment outcomes for liver cancer or bile duct cancer, for example, that field will receive intensive support to attract patients from other regions as well.
"To convince patients that they don't need to travel to Seoul, treatment outcomes must ultimately speak for themselves," Yang said. "If a center shows excellent results for a specific cancer, patient flows will naturally shift."
To support this initiative, the NCC is also building a network that combines standardized treatment guidelines, clinical research, and medical data. The NCC will serve as the hub for producing clinical evidence and sharing it with regional cancer centers to enable uniform treatment quality nationwide. At the same time, the center plans to expand inter-regional collaborative research to elevate the research capabilities of local medical professionals.
The introduction of performance indicators that can objectively demonstrate regional cancer centers' capabilities is also being pursued. The aim is to develop metrics based on treatment outcomes such as surgical results and survival rates, providing patients with clear criteria for choosing where to receive care.
"The role of the National Cancer Center is to establish evidence for standardized treatment and disseminate it nationwide," Yang said. "We will integrate research and data with regional cancer centers to build a system where sufficient treatment is available locally." He added, "It is difficult to improve regional cancer care without strengthening the NCC itself, so we are also considering improving compensation for medical staff."