Amanda Pullinger, Chief Executive Officer at Debbie’s Dream Foundation, shared on LinkedIn:
“The second visit of my Seoul, Korea trip in October was to National Cancer Center Korea. To get there, Dr. Jane Chung-Yoon Kim (whom I had met the day before at SMUH) kindly offered to take me by high-speed underground train. Traveling at 150 miles an hour, it was an efficient way to avoid the Seoul traffic out of the City! We picked up a cake for Dr. Bang Wool Eom’s birthday, which we surprised her with at lunch. It was so nice to meet Bang Wool in person after so many months of doing Zoom calls.
First stop at NCC was to see Dr. Han-Kwang Yang, Hon ASA, Hon ESA and Hon JSES, President of the National Cancer Center Korea, and a member of Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer’s International SMAB. I’m enormously grateful to Dr. Yang for his support of DDF over the years, and especially for his ability to bring together such a phenomenal group of medical experts and patient advocates for our International Symposium in Seoul. His passion for the GI cancer space, and his strong connection to patients and survivors was so evident across numerous meetings held in Seoul.
Dr. Bang Wool Eom then escorted me through various departments of the NCC, including:
- The Proton Therapy area
- The NCC Biobank
- The Endoscopy unit (where Dr Eom had spent the morning doing over 15 endoscopies)
- The Children’s hospital (including the classroom and play area)
- The Patient Community Center (where patients and family members can receive one-on-one support and educational materials to take home)
One of the overarching themes of my visit to Korea is the strong focus on early detection, in the form of routine endoscopies at the age of 40. Both the Korean government and NCC have long championed this – and the positive result for patients is evident, with gastric cancer being caught in much earlier stages than is the case in the West. While the absolute number of gastric cancer patients in Asia is far greater, the patient outcomes and survivability are far better than we see in the US. This is largely due to more options at an early stage. We have a lot to learn from the East in this regard for at-risk communities in the West.
Following the visit to NCC, I was able to thank some of the participants in the Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer International Symposium the following day, by hosting a Korean BBQ Dinner. It was a wonderful way to finish the day, and an opportunity to get to know those who are working tirelessly in the Gastric cancer space across Korea, Japan and China.
For more information about DDF’s global work in the stomach cancer/GI cancer space, please go to stomachcancerinfo.com.”
Other articles featuring Amanda Pullinger on OncoDaily.
