National Cancer Center Marks 25 Years of Brachytherapy for Cervical Cancer, Upholding the National Standard of Care

First in Korea to Introduce MRI-Based Brachytherapy in 2008

Only 25 out of 109 Radiation Oncology Institutions Offer the Treatment

1,950 Patients Treated Since Opening; 1,058 Received Image-Guided Brachytherapy

The National Cancer Center has continued to provide brachytherapy for cervical cancer without interruption, maintaining the national standard of care at a time when the number of institutions performing this treatment in Korea is gradually declining.

The National Cancer Center announced on August 19 that it has been consistently offering brachytherapy for cervical cancer for 25 years since its establishment. While there are currently 109 institutions in Korea that operate departments of radiation oncology, only 25 institutions are equipped with brachytherapy devices and consistently provide the treatment.

Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy in which a radiation source is placed inside or next to the tumor, allowing a high dose of radiation to be concentrated on the cancerous tissue while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissues. Although it is also used for breast, prostate, bile duct, and rectal cancers, in the case of cervical cancer, it is considered an essential standard treatment for a definitive cure.

However, due to the need to regularly replace radiation sources, which results in high maintenance costs, as well as the demands of radiation safety management, and the requirement for specialized personnel—including skilled radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiologic technologists, and nurses with expertise in brachytherapy—many healthcare institutions are struggling to provide this therapy.

With the advancement of external beam radiation therapy, there was a time when it was expected to replace brachytherapy. However, subsequent clinical studies have confirmed that omitting brachytherapy results in poorer outcomes for cervical cancer treatment, and it is now recommended as an essential therapy in international clinical guidelines.

To enhance treatment precision, the National Cancer Center introduced MRI-based image-guided brachytherapy domestically for the first time in 2008. Under this method, MRI is used to precisely locate the tumor and surrounding organs, allowing focused delivery of radiation.

As of last year, a total of 1,058 patients have received image-guided brachytherapy at the National Cancer Center. Of these, 734 patients underwent MRI-based treatment, and 324 received CT-based image-guided brachytherapy. Since its opening, the center has treated 1,950 cervical cancer patients using this therapy, and it continues to provide brachytherapy to approximately 60 patients annually.

The center is also dedicated to disseminating brachytherapy expertise to other medical institutions and training specialized personnel. It hosted Korea's first MRI-based brachytherapy training in 2010 and continued to provide training for radiation oncologists and medical physicists nationwide in 2019 and 2025.

Multidisciplinary collaboration plays a core role throughout the treatment process. The medical physics team is responsible for precise treatment planning and quality control, while dedicated radiologic technologists and nurses provide physical and mental support and care for patients throughout the treatment. For patients who, due to anatomical reasons, have difficulty with device insertion, gynecology specialists cooperate using laparoscopic techniques to improve treatment outcomes.

Ju-Young Kim, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the National Cancer Center, stated, "Brachytherapy is not a treatment delivered simply by a single machine; it is made possible by the philosophy of the hospital and collaboration among various professions. We have been able to uphold this standard for the past 25 years with the determination not to give up on providing the best treatment for our patients."

There are also cases of long-term survival among patients who received this treatment. Ms. A, age 65, experienced local recurrence after receiving radiation therapy for cervical cancer at another hospital in 1994, and was told that additional radiation or surgery was not feasible. After receiving MRI-based brachytherapy at the National Cancer Center in 2018, she has remained healthy and recurrence-free for more than seven years. Ms. B, a mother of two in her 30s, had a tumor that had invaded the tissues surrounding the uterus, but received both intrauterine and interstitial brachytherapy, and has also remained cancer-free for over three years since then.

Han-Kwang Yang, President of the National Cancer Center, said, "Brachytherapy is an essential standard treatment for curing cervical cancer patients, but the reality is that fewer and fewer institutions can provide it due to high maintenance costs and the difficulty of securing specialized personnel. As Korea’s central cancer management institution, we will work even harder to advance treatment technologies and develop specialized human resources, leveraging the expertise and experience we have built up over the past 25 years, so that people across the country can access high-quality brachytherapy wherever they are."

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