3 of the world's top 10
cancer hospitals. One city.
Samsung #3, Asan #4, SNUH #8, Newsweek 2026, running the same protocols US centers use. It starts with a written second opinion from a named specialist at one of them, roughly $220 to $260 at the hospital's published fee, back in 5 to 10 business days, with your own oncologist kept in the loop. Reading this for a parent? Most people here are.
Speed. Volume.
Access. Price.
Four measurable differences between starting treatment in the US system and starting it in Seoul. Every number links to its source.
- [1]3 of Newsweek's 2026 global top-10 oncology hospitals are in SeoulSamsung #3 · Asan #4 · SNUH #8
- [2]~500 gastrectomies a year at one Korean centerThe US "high-volume" bar is 17/yr, 92% of US patients are treated below it
- [3]US treatment delay grew 34 → 44 days (2015→2022)Samsung's breast Fast Track does imaging and staging on visit one
- [4]Carbon-ion therapy: the 16th facility on earth676 patients since 2023 · US facilities: zero
- [5]A second opinion runs about $220-260, published by the hospital, not negotiatedUS equivalents: $800-3,000
The numbers, with the caveats attached.
Sources: KCCR · SEER · CONCORD-3 · JNCI · NHS England · CIHI. We publish the honest version, including what survival gaps don't prove.
2026 made the math
impossible to ignore.
None of these numbers is ours. All of them are why American patients are suddenly doing this arithmetic.
A written second opinion, at roughly $220-260, is the cheapest decision insurance there is: it tells you, before you spend anything on travel, whether Korea changes your options at all.
We are not your doctor and we cannot promise an outcome. What we can promise is that you will not be left alone with the paperwork or the money.
Alone in the US system
vs. with ANDO
A US cancer diagnosis starts two clocks: one medical, one bureaucratic. This is what each path looks like, step by step.
Technology you cannot get
in the US
Some modalities are waitlisted, out-of-network, or simply nonexistent in the US. In Seoul they're operating at scale.
Carbon-ion therapy
16th facility worldwide. 676 patients since 2023. US facilities: zero.
US status · none operatingRobotic surgery at scale
World-first 40,000 procedures at one center (Severance).
volume no US center matchesProton at half price
$30-60k in Korea vs $80-150k+ US list prices.
same modality · published gapCAR-T, designated
Four government-designated centers; Kymriah reimbursed since 2021.
access without a trial slotFrom records to a real
number, in ~3 weeks.
The second opinion is the decision point. Nothing else is booked until you have it in hand.
- [1]Records assembledRequests in your name; we chase, digitize, translate. Days 1-7
- [2]Top-center reviewWritten opinion at the hospital's published fee, roughly $220-260, 5-10 business days
- [3]Decision, with numbersIf treatment makes sense: one capped, escrowed bundle
- [4]Treatment & homeTop-10 center care → recovery clearance → records home with you
Ranked with the best.
Literally.
Newsweek & Statista’s published global oncology ranking, the same table as MD Anderson, Mayo and Johns Hopkins. Three of the top ten are in Seoul.
Source: Newsweek & Statista, World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2026, Oncology. See the published ranking →
Documented in third-party press.
We publish no testimonials (Art. 56). Reporters and government releases record the road instead.
A Russian patient became the first foreigner treated with carbon-ion therapy at Yonsei, twelve sessions, early prostate cancer.
Read →One Asan breast surgeon has treated 400+ international breast-cancer patients from 20+ countries.
Read →A Mongolian patient's 8cm thyroid tumor, undiagnosable at home, removed by robotic surgery in Seoul.
Read →2.01M foreign patients in 2025. Cancer patients: 7,147 in 2024, the US already #2 among them.
Read →US median time from diagnosis to first treatment reached 44 days, and keeps climbing.
Read →A US second opinion runs $800-3,000.
Seoul's top center publishes about $220-260.
- Record chase, digitization & translation, done for you
- Submission to a top-10 center · 5-10 business-day review
- Walkthrough call, document structure, not medical advice
- Honest go/no-go: refund if Korea isn't your answer
- If you proceed: capped bundle, escrow custody, full journey
Hospital package prices are the hospitals' own, paid direct. Our service fee is discussed in your room and billed only after your consult.
Straight answers
No honest person can promise that, and we won't. What the data supports: you'll be reviewed in days not months, treated at hospitals ranked in the world's top 10, by teams with case volumes US centers can't match, at a price fixed before you fly. Where survival studies conflict, we show you both.
Records: 1-7 days (we chase them). Hospital review: 5-10 business days at the published fee. Decision call within 48 hours of the opinion. If you proceed, treatment windows are typically weeks, while the US median wait alone is 44 days.
We publish only prices we can trace to the hospital itself or to Korea’s national price-disclosure system, never to a booking aggregator. Published examples: a written second opinion at Asan runs about $220-260; a carbon-ion course at Yonsei is roughly $35,000. Surgical bundles vary too much to quote honestly without your records, so we do not. Honest note: foreigners pay ~3× domestic insured rates, and it is still a fraction of US chargemaster billing. Your quote is capped in escrow before you commit.
The strongest fits: self-pay or high-deductible patients, GI cancers and other high-volume Korean specialties, proton/carbon-ion candidates, and anyone whose US timeline is measured in months. The review exists to answer this before you spend anything on travel.
Complete English records go with you (and stay in your Wallet). Follow-ups are scheduled before you leave. Korea legalized cross-border telemedicine for foreign patients, rolling out through 2027; until then we bridge with your home physician.
India is cheaper for many procedures, genuinely. Korea's case: 3 of the world's top-10 cancer hospitals, gastrectomy volumes of ~500/yr per center, carbon-ion access, and published outcome transparency. For GI cancers specifically, Korea is the strongest evidence base on earth.
Get a top-10 center's read. Billed after we talk.
Records → written opinion in 5-10 business days → your decision with a real number attached. Our service fee is billed after your consult, and waived if we tell you not to fly.
Start a second opinion