Myongji Hospital has recruited Professor Park Joong-won of the National Cancer Center, an authority on liver cancer treatment who has identified the effectiveness of radiation (proton) therapy "for the first time worldwide."

Professor Park, who started treatment at the Gastroenterology Department in Myongji Hospital on Monday, is an authority in the field specializing in the prevention, diagnosis, and internal treatment of hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. He established the first multidisciplinary guidelines for liver cancer in Korea and has led this area for 20 years.

Park has also pioneered a new era in liver cancer treatment by leading multinational clinical trials of new drugs for treating liver cancer.

Myongji Hospital said it would appoint Professor Park as the head of the Hepatology and Liver Cancer Center and the Integrative Cancer Treatment Center to break new ground as a cancer treatment hub through specialized treatment and systematic research across cancer types, including liver cancer.

Professor led the establishment of Korea's first “Guidelines for the Treatment of Liver Cancer” in 2003 and its four subsequent revisions, establishing diagnosis and stage-specific treatment that reflected Korean characteristics different from those of the West. In particular, the 2022 revision included recommendations for treating, screening, and treating chronic liver disease during the Covid-19 pandemic, making efforts to treat liver cancer even amid an infectious disease crisis.

In 2020, he published the world's first study proving the effectiveness and safety of radiation therapy for liver cancer patients in the Journal of Hepatology, a global journal in hepatology. Such discovery had not been made even in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, which implemented radiotherapy for liver cancer before Korea, and this research led to Park’s receiving the Pfizer Medical Research Award from the National Academy of Medicine of Korea in 2021.

In addition, he received a citation from the Minister of Health and Welfare for leading domestic and international clinical research on liver cancer in 2020 and a citation from the Prime Minister for contributing to the development of new drugs by serving as the head of the National Cancer Center's Anti-Cancer New Drug Therapy Development Project in 2021. In the same year, he was elected as a full member of the National Academy of Medicine of Korea for his efforts to advance Korean medicine.

Besides, he has published more than 200 SCI papers on liver health, including liver cancer, hepatitis B, and cirrhosis, and has conducted numerous clinical studies and trials.

Park graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1984, earned his Ph.D. from the same institution, and served as a professor of internal medicine at Chung-Ang University College of Medicine.

Since then, he has contributed to the development of liver cancer and medicine through his research and treatment of liver diseases at the National Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the United States, as well as his work as the Director of the National Cancer Center's Liver Cancer Center, Chief of the Hepatobiliary Research Division, Director of the Anti-Cancer New Drug Therapy Development Project, Director of the Translational Clinical Phase I Research Division, Chief Researcher of the Clinical Medicine Research Division and the Cancer Care Improvement Research Division, Adjunct Professor at the International Cancer Graduate School, and President of the Korean Liver Cancer Association.

"With more than 30 years of experience in treating liver diseases and various research know-how, I will continue to build on the reputation of Myongji Hospital's Liver and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Center to strengthen treatment capabilities and revitalize research," Professor Park said. "I will do my best to make Myongji Hospital the best treatment center in Korea for all cancers, including liver cancer."