Bundang CHA Hospital Cancer Center Achieves 5,000 Cases of Multidisciplinary Cancer Treatment in the Shortest Time in Korea

CHA University School of Medicine Bundang CHA Hospital (Director Yoon Sang-wook) Cancer Center announced on the 12th that it has achieved 5,000 cases of multidisciplinary cancer treatment in the shortest period in Korea. Bundang CHA Hospital held a commemorative ceremony on the 5th with over 100 medical staff who have led multidisciplinary treatment and patients who have overcome cancer. The Bundang CHA Hospital Cancer Center, which first introduced multidisciplinary treatment in the field of pancreaticobiliary cancer in 2016, currently implements multidisciplinary treatment for all cancer diseases including breast cancer, gynecologic cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, and head and neck cancer. Since implementing multidisciplinary treatment, patient and family satisfaction as well as treatment success rates have increased.

Medical staff are taking a commemorative photo at the ceremony celebrating the achievement of 5,000 multidisciplinary cancer treatment cases at Bundang CHA Hospital Cancer Center.
[Photo by Bundang CHA Hospital]

Multidisciplinary treatment refers to a system where 3 to 9 doctors from various departments gather to jointly treat a single patient. It is a patient-centered treatment method in which doctors share their opinions in one place to establish a treatment plan and treat the patient. Professor Ko Kwang-hyun of the Department of Gastroenterology, who introduced the multidisciplinary treatment system at Bundang CHA Hospital, said, "It is a very ideal treatment system, but it was difficult to coordinate the medical staff’s schedules, and there were many skeptical views about setting aside time to treat patients who are not their own, so it was not easy to apply in practice. However, seeing patients and their families feel reassured and moved during treatment, and above all, the improvement in treatment outcomes, professors have started to participate more actively in multidisciplinary treatment," he said.

At Bundang CHA Hospital, an average of 5 departments and 7 professors participate in treating one patient. The average consultation time is 30 minutes. Cancer specialists from related departments such as internal medicine, surgery, hematology-oncology, radiology, and radiation oncology gather in one place to treat the patient. They plan each stage from diagnosis to surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and new drug treatments, selecting the most suitable treatment method for the patient. Director Jeon Hong-jae of the Cancer Center said, "It was difficult to coordinate consultation times, so we started multidisciplinary treatment meetings during lunch and after 5 p.m. when consultations ended. Now, this has completely become the pattern for multidisciplinary treatment. Patients who were previously inoperable undergo surgery after chemotherapy, and terminal patients experience complete remission with cancer cells disappearing, which seems to have brought new motivation and vitality even to the professors," he said.

The multidisciplinary team for pancreaticobiliary cancer at Bundang CHA Hospital is explaining the treatment plan.
[Photo by Bundang CHA Hospital]

Multidisciplinary treatment, which began with pancreaticobiliary cancer, has expanded to all cancers at Bundang CHA Hospital Cancer Center, and the multidisciplinary treatment rooms, which started in a small meeting room, have now increased to three. Since 2020, more than 1,000 cases of multidisciplinary treatment have been conducted annually. In a satisfaction survey conducted on 628 patients who received multidisciplinary treatment in 2021, all responded that they were satisfied. Yoon Sang-wook, Director of Bundang CHA Hospital, said, "The multidisciplinary treatment at Bundang CHA Hospital is voluntarily conducted by medical staff rather than hospital management, gaining empathy from patients and caregivers, and has become a model for cancer treatment in Korea. By introducing multidisciplinary treatment not only for cancers such as pancreaticobiliary cancer, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer but also for intractable diseases such as infertility, obesity, and congenital malformations, we are presenting new treatment protocols, thereby improving the treatment of high-difficulty severe diseases and the quality of future medical care," he stated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.