Providing comprehensive care for patients with hereditary and rare urologic cancers, where accurate diagnosis and treatment have long been a challenge due to their low incidence

“Optimized Treatment Based on Experience Treating One in Ten Urologic Cancer Patients in Korea”

▲ Professor Inkeun Park (far right) of the Division of Oncology at Asan Medical Center and the multidisciplinary team of the AMC Cancer Institute Urologic Cancer Center are treating a urologic cancer patient.

With the aging population, the number of patients with urologic cancers such as prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer continues to rise, leading to rapid advances in early diagnosis and treatment.

However, for rare urologic cancers with low incidence rates, including adrenal cancer, testicular cancer, and urachal cancer, as well as hereditary urologic cancers, accurate diagnosis and effective treatment remain a significant challenge.

To address this need, Asan Medical Center has recently opened the ‘Hereditary and Rare Urologic Cancer Clinic’, providing comprehensive care that spans from precise diagnosis to tailored treatment for these patients.

At the Asan Medical Center ‘Hereditary and Rare Urologic Cancer Clinic’, specialists in urologic oncology conduct in depth consultations to thoroughly assess each patient’s medical history, symptoms, family history, and related conditions beyond the urinary system. Based on the extensive clinical expertise accumulated by the AMC Cancer Institute Urologic Cancer Center, which treats one in ten urologic cancer patients in Korea, the clinic provides personalized treatment tailored to each patient.

When collaboration with other departments is required, a multidisciplinary care system is implemented. Specialists from various fields come together to determine the most effective treatment strategy, which may include chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, or active surveillance.

In cases of hereditary urologic cancers, which can cause tumors to recur not only in the urinary system but also throughout the body, the clinic provides genetic counseling, genetic testing, and specialized pathology tests to identify the underlying causes with precision.

Asan Medical Center ‘Hereditary and Rare Urologic Cancer Clinic’ focuses on patients with von Hippel Lindau (VHL) syndrome, in which VHL gene mutations lead to tumors in multiple organs such as the kidney, pancreas, and retina; fumarate hydratase (FH) deficient renal cell carcinoma, an aggressive and fast-progressing cancer caused by FH gene mutations with poor prognosis; and rare cancers such as adrenal cancer, pheochromocytoma, paraganglioma, testicular cancer, and urachal cancer, which occur at an annual global incidence rate of approximately 0.5 to 6 cases per million people.

Professor Inkeun Park of the Division of Oncology at Asan Medical Center, who leads Asan Medical Center ‘Hereditary and Rare Urologic Cancer Clinic’, said, “For hereditary and rare urologic cancers, there are no established standard treatments, so it is essential to take a comprehensive approach that considers the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and specific genetic mutations to provide individualized treatment. Based on the extensive clinical data accumulated by the AMC Cancer Institute Urologic Cancer Center, we will deliver the most effective care possible.”

The AMC Cancer Institute Urologic Cancer Center currently treats one in ten urologic cancer patients in Korea and continues to lead advances in urologic cancer treatment.

The AMC Cancer Institute Urologic Cancer Center treats more than 70,000 outpatients each year. Since introducing Korea’s first multidisciplinary care system in 2009, the center has provided approximately 170 multidisciplinary consultations annually, offering personalized treatment for a wide range of urologic cancers.

To date, AMC Cancer Institute Urologic Cancer Center has performed over 40,000 urologic cancer surgeries. Among them, more than 99 percent of prostate cancer surgeries and over 80 percent of kidney cancer surgeries have been carried out using minimally invasive techniques, significantly reducing complications and side effects. The 30-day postoperative mortality rate remains excellent, at 0 to 0.12 percent.

In addition, the center actively provides a wide range of treatment options tailored to each patient’s condition, including personalized immunotherapy and targeted therapy based on genomic and clinical data, advanced radiation therapy for patients unsuitable for surgery or radiofrequency ablation, and interventional radiology procedures such as RFA, which uses radiofrequency currents to eliminate tumor tissue.

Asan Medical Center also became the first in Korea to establish a Theranostics Center, where it actively provides treatment for patients with refractory metastatic cancers using Pluvicto, an innovative therapy for prostate cancer.

Professor Jae Lyun Lee, Director of the Urologic Cancer Center at Asan Medical Center, said, “We will continue to adopt the latest treatment approaches to overcome complex and hard to treat urologic cancers, while leading advancements in care through a closely integrated multidisciplinary system to provide the highest level of treatment.”

Meanwhile, the AMC Cancer Institute publishes the Outcomes Book each year, presenting both quantitative indicators such as the number of cancer surgeries and procedures, and qualitative indicators such as five-year survival rates, along with the history and current status of the institute’s cancer care.

Last year’s edition focused on the five most common cancers in Korea, which are liver, colorectal, gastric, breast, and lung cancers. This year, the 2024 Outcomes Book was published with a focus on prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer, which are among the most prevalent cancers in men.