Asan Medical Center
South Korea's largest medical centre and largest cancer institute, ranked among the world's top 10 hospitals in six clinical specialties by Newsweek 2026, known for high-volume cancer surgery, organ transplantation, robotic surgery and a dedicated CAR T-Cell Therapy Center.
About Asan Medical Center
Asan Medical Center (AMC) is South Korea's largest and most-referenced hospital, founded on June 23, 1989 in Seoul's Songpa-gu district as Seoul Jungang Hospital and renamed Asan Medical Center on April 27, 2002. AMC was established by Asan Foundation founder Chung Ju-yung, the founder of the Hyundai Group, and operates as the principal teaching hospital of the University of Ulsan College of Medicine. As of 2025 the hospital has 2,446 inpatient beds and a total floor area of approximately 280,000 m², sees 11,377 outpatients per day, admits 654,536 inpatients per year, performs 52,838 surgeries annually, and cares for 19,152 international patients each year from over 100 countries. AMC is the parent hospital of eight institutions under the Asan Foundation network.
The AMC Cancer Institute is Korea's largest cancer treatment centre, caring for approximately one in eight registered cancer patients in the country. In 2023 alone the Cancer Institute served 1.1 million patient visits, recorded 36,229 new cancer registrations and performed 23,350 cancer surgeries across 15 specialised cancer centres. The Institute runs dedicated programmes for stomach, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, biliary, lung, breast, gynecologic, head and neck, prostate, thyroid, brain and hematologic cancers. Flagship surgical strengths include high-volume gastric and colorectal cancer surgery (the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery became the first in Korea to exceed 3,000 robotic colorectal cancer surgeries in 2025), one of the world's busiest living-donor liver transplant programmes, and a multidisciplinary head and neck reconstruction service performing over 100 microsurgical reconstructions per year with a reported 98% success rate. AMC's CAR T-Cell Therapy Center, established in May 2022, completed 100 CAR T cases by May 2025 in patients ranging from under one year to 85 years of age.
Asan Medical Center has been JCI-accredited since 2007 with multiple re-accreditations, operates the Asan Global Standard (AGS) quality framework since 2011, and holds HIMSS Stage 6 certification for digital health adoption. AMC was ranked among the world's top 10 hospitals in six clinical specialties (the highest number for any Korean hospital) in Newsweek's 2026 World's Best Hospitals by Specialty evaluation, with strong placements across oncology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, urology, neurology and cardiology. The Cancer Institute partners with international centres including Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (since 2011, through the joint ASAN Center for Cancer Genome Discovery), the University of Chicago Medicine, and the University of Minnesota. AMC's Asan Institute for Life Sciences (founded 1990) and Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine sequence the DNA of approximately 3,000 cancer patients per year and run more than 300 clinical trials annually, around 20% of them phase 1 first-in-human studies. The hospital has been designated a national Research-Driven Hospital by Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare.
CancerFax works directly with AMC's International Healthcare Center to help patients from outside Korea access its cancer and transplant programmes. From sharing your medical records and pathology slides for preliminary clinical review, to arranging the right cancer department or multidisciplinary tumour board consultation, securing visa documentation, coordinating accredited translation of reports, and planning your stay near the Songpa-gu campus, CancerFax manages the entire pathway at no cost to the patient. For families weighing AMC against other major Asian cancer centres, our role is to give you a clear, honest comparison and a concrete next step from the AMC team, so that any treatment decision is based on what is actually possible for your case.
| Hospital at a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Country | South Korea |
| City | Seoul (Songpa-gu) |
| Established | June 23, 1989 (as Seoul Jungang Hospital); renamed Asan Medical Center in 2002 |
| Hospital Type | Tertiary Academic Medical Centre · Teaching Hospital of University of Ulsan College of Medicine |
| Accreditation | JCI Accredited (since 2007) · HIMSS Stage 6 · Asan Global Standard (AGS) · Korean Research-Driven Hospital |
| Beds | 2,446 |
| Annual Patient Activity | ~654,000 inpatients · 11,377 outpatients/day · 52,838 surgeries · 19,152 international patients |
| Research Focus | Solid tumour oncology, organ transplantation, cancer genomics, CAR-T cell therapy, precision medicine |
Why Patients Choose Asan Medical Center
AMC combines Korea's largest cancer institute by patient volume with world-class surgical expertise, dedicated cellular immunotherapy and one of the highest-volume organ transplant programmes globally, supported by a structured International Healthcare Center for patients from outside Korea.
Cancer Specialties and Clinical Departments
AMC's Cancer Institute houses 15 specialised cancer centres alongside 56 clinical departments and 50 specialist clinics, supporting the full range of solid and hematologic malignancies and pediatric oncology through a long-established multidisciplinary care model.
Advanced Treatment Capabilities
Key Specialists at Asan Medical Center
Asan Medical Center has more than 1,600 physicians and surgeons and over 3,100 nurses across 56 clinical departments and 50 specialised centres and specialist clinics. The hospital is led by President Sang-do Lee, and the AMC Cancer Institute is led by President Tae Won Kim. Senior oncology faculty include Professor Sung-Bae Kim (medical oncology, breast cancer clinical trials), Professor Dok Hyun Yoon (haematology and lymphoma, CAR-T research lead), Professors Hyungwoo Cho and Jaewon Hyung (CAR-T and immunotherapy trials), Professor Changhoon Yoo (hepatobiliary medical oncology and liver cancer immunotherapy), and Professor Hyung-Don Kim (hepatocellular carcinoma immunotherapy translational research). Many AMC physicians hold advanced training at leading US and European cancer centres and serve on international society committees.
AMC operates a fully multidisciplinary cancer care model that has been in place since 2006, under which a single patient can see five or six specialists in one coordinated appointment to align on diagnosis and treatment plan. Patients seeking a specific physician consultation or a multidisciplinary second opinion can submit their request through the CancerFax coordination process. We work with AMC's International Healthcare Center to match each case to the appropriate department lead and confirm whether your case will benefit from an MDT review before travel is committed.
Patients seeking specific physician consultations or second opinions may request a review through the CancerFax coordination process before confirming travel or admission.
Clinical Infrastructure and Treatment Technology
AMC's Songpa-gu campus integrates one of Asia's largest single-site hospital infrastructures with research-grade laboratories, an advanced imaging platform, three Da Vinci robotic systems, 67 operating rooms and a dedicated CAR T-cell processing facility.
- Radiation Oncology Center delivering IMRT, IGRT, VMAT, stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS and SBRT) and brachytherapy
- Image-guided radiotherapy with high-precision linear accelerators and on-board imaging
- ⚠ VERIFY: proton therapy availability at AMC (referenced in some secondary sources; not directly listed on the AMC English site — Korea's main proton therapy centres include the National Cancer Center and Samsung Medical Center)
- MRI, multidetector CT, PET/CT and SPECT/CT imaging across multiple campus buildings
- Molecular imaging platforms developed through the Asan Institute for Life Sciences
- Department of Pathology with full immunohistochemistry, molecular pathology and digital pathology workflows
- Three large Da Vinci robotic surgical systems with 10,000+ cumulative robotic surgeries; first hospital in Korea past 3,000 robotic colorectal cancer surgeries
- 67 operating rooms supporting high-volume oncology and organ-transplant surgery
- Comprehensive interventional radiology and minimally invasive platforms including TACE, RFA and image-guided tumour ablation
- ASAN Center for Cancer Genome Discovery (joint with Dana-Farber/Harvard since 2011) and Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine sequencing ~3,000 cancer patients/year
- Asan Institute for Life Sciences (founded 1990) supporting translational and basic cancer research
- 300+ active clinical trials annually with around 20% phase 1 first-in-human studies, supported by the AMC Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Office
International Patient Support at Asan Medical Center
AMC's International Healthcare Center provides structured end-to-end support for patients travelling from outside Korea, with dedicated coordinators, professional interpreters in six languages, and a remote second opinion service available in English and Korean.
What to Prepare Before Traveling
- arrow_rightShare complete pathology reports, biopsy slides, recent imaging (CT, PET-CT, MRI), molecular profiling and prior treatment summaries in English with AMC's International Healthcare Center at least one to two weeks before your planned consultation date.
- arrow_rightApply for the appropriate Korean visa (typically a C-3 short-term visit visa for consultations or G-1-10 medical treatment visa for longer treatment stays) at the Korean embassy or consulate in your country. AMC can issue the supporting hospital invitation letter on request.
- arrow_rightPlan travel to Seoul via Incheon International Airport (ICN) or Gimpo International Airport (GMP). The AMC campus is in central Songpa-gu near Olympic Park and Lotte World Tower, with multiple hotels within walking distance for accompanying family.
AMC's International Healthcare Center can be reached through the official site at eng.amc.seoul.kr, and the hospital provides professional medical interpretation in English, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Mongolian and Japanese. CancerFax coordinates all communication with the International Healthcare Center on your behalf, including pre-travel translation of reports and arrangement of remote second opinions, and remains your single point of contact through consultation, treatment and follow-up at no cost.
Patient Facilities and Accommodation at Asan Medical Center
AMC's Songpa-gu campus combines hospital-grade clinical care with hotel-style patient amenities, offering five room categories from multi-bed general wards to VIP suites, dining across Korean, Western, Japanese and Chinese cuisines, and dedicated international patient support.
Family members travelling with international patients are well-served by Songpa-gu's wide accommodation options, from boutique hotels and serviced apartments within walking distance to longer-stay residences nearby. The International Healthcare Center provides a recommended hotel list and can assist with bookings at preferred rates where available.
How to Reach Asan Medical Center
AMC's main campus is in Seoul's Songpa-gu district near Olympic Park and Lotte World Tower, easily accessible from both Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Gimpo International Airport (GMP), and well connected by Seoul's metro and limousine bus network.
How CancerFax Helps
CancerFax is a specialist cancer access and patient-navigation platform. We help patients and families understand their options, organise medical records, coordinate hospital communication, and support cross-border treatment planning where appropriate.
We help collect and organise reports, scans, pathology, biomarker results, and treatment history for structured case review.
We communicate with hospitals or trial teams to assess whether a case may be suitable for further screening.
We support appointment coordination, document submission, translation, and direct communication with international departments.
For international patients, we help with practical coordination — travel planning, hospital admission guidance, and local support.
If this option is not suitable, we help explore other relevant treatments, clinical trials, or advanced care pathways.
From inquiry through to follow-up, our coordinators provide a single point of contact for the family.
CancerFax does not guarantee treatment access, eligibility, or clinical outcome. Our role is to help patients access accurate information, structured review, and appropriate specialist pathways.
Asan Medical Center — Patient Questions Answered
CancerFax acts as your dedicated coordinator for the entire AMC journey. You begin by sharing your medical records, including pathology, biopsy slides, scans and prior treatment summaries, through our secure intake. Our clinical team reviews your case and identifies the right AMC department or sub-specialty: the relevant Cancer Institute centre (gastric, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, breast, lung, head and neck, thyroid, hematologic and so on), the CAR T-Cell Therapy Center, the organ transplant programme, or the multidisciplinary tumour board for a complex case. We then submit your case to AMC's International Healthcare Center and work with their team to secure the right consultation or remote second opinion.
Once your appointment is confirmed, CancerFax prepares your full pre-travel pack: itemised cost estimates from AMC with no CancerFax mark-up, Korean medical visa support documentation, accredited translation of your home-country reports if needed, and guidance on transport, hotels and what to bring. We remain your single point of contact through consultation, treatment planning and follow-up. There is no fee to the patient for any of this coordination.
AMC's strongest expertise lies in solid tumour oncology and high-volume cancer surgery, particularly stomach, colorectal, liver, pancreatic and biliary cancers — areas where the Cancer Institute is among the world's busiest centres. The hospital is also internationally recognised for breast, lung, head and neck, thyroid, prostate, urologic and gynecologic cancers, and the AMC Children's Hospital handles pediatric oncology. Beyond surgery, AMC offers the CAR T-Cell Therapy Center for relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL and DLBCL and trial-eligible blood and solid cancers, an active immunotherapy and targeted therapy programme, and one of the world's leading living-donor liver transplant services. If you are unsure whether AMC is the right fit for your specific diagnosis, share your records through CancerFax and we will confirm departmental fit before any travel commitment.
AMC's CAR T-Cell Therapy Center, established in May 2022 within the Cancer Institute, completed 100 CAR T-cell therapy cases by May 2025 and is Korea's first centre with a structured multidisciplinary CAR-T clinic. CAR-T is currently used at AMC for relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (covered under Korean national health insurance for Korean residents), with active clinical trials in follicular lymphoma, multiple myeloma and hepatocellular carcinoma, plus an investigational next-generation anti-CD19 CAR-T product (AT101) for r/r DLBCL.
⚠ VERIFY: proton therapy is referenced as available at AMC in some secondary sources, but it is not directly listed on the AMC English site as of writing. Korea's principal proton therapy centres are the National Cancer Center (Goyang) and Samsung Medical Center (Seoul). CancerFax confirms current modality availability and eligibility for your specific case before any travel commitment, and can compare AMC against proton-equipped Korean centres if proton therapy is clinically indicated.
Yes. AMC offers a structured remote second opinion service in English and Korean through the International Healthcare Center, connecting patients with leading specialists in the relevant cancer department. The process involves submitting your scans, pathology reports, biopsy slides where requested, and prior treatment summaries, ideally translated into English, for review by the appropriate tumour-specific team. CancerFax facilitates this submission, follows up with AMC on your behalf, and obtains a written preliminary opinion or treatment direction, typically within one to two weeks depending on case complexity and specialist availability. This is particularly valuable for patients considering surgery for gastric, colorectal, liver or pancreatic cancer, or for CAR T-cell therapy eligibility, before booking flights.
Treatment costs at AMC are generally significantly lower than at comparable cancer centres in the United States or Western Europe, though pricing depends on the specialist, the department, the diagnostic workup needed, and whether surgery, CAR T-cell therapy or transplant is involved. AMC's International Healthcare Center provides a formal written cost estimate as part of the pre-travel pack, including consultation fees, diagnostic tests, hospital stay and procedure costs where applicable. CancerFax shares this estimate with you at no extra charge and with no mark-up on hospital fees. If you have international health insurance, we can also advise on the supporting documentation AMC issues for reimbursement claims after treatment. Note that some treatments covered under Korean national health insurance (such as CAR T-cell therapy for certain indications) are reimbursed only for Korean residents, and international patients should plan to pay out-of-pocket or through insurance for these therapies.
Send Your Medical Reports to Asan Medical Center via CancerFax
CancerFax reviews your records, identifies the right Asan Medical Center department, and coordinates your consultation or remote second opinion in Seoul, at no cost, with no obligation, and with full medical confidentiality throughout.