Park Cheong-soo
Professor in Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Park Cheong-soo, one of the most renowned and prolific thyroid cancer experts in Korea, has performed surgery on more than 20,000 patients since the early 1980s. He is also one of the best, with only a 0.3 percent rate of postoperative complications. In 2015, he was recognized by the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies for his contribution to the development of the field.
Over the past 20 years, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased fifteenfold, becoming the most common form of cancer in Korea. This growth rate, which is faster than in any other country, has also made thyroid the most alarming of all cancers. No one has been able to adequately explain the phenomenon. Given that the five-year survival rate from the cancer is nearly 100 percent, some doctors claim that overtreatment is the chief cause of the rate of increase. They insist that surgery for thyroid cancer is usually does more harm than good. However, Park Cheong-soo, 72, a thyroid cancer specialist at Gangnam Severance Hospital, believes such doctors could spread inaccurate information about thyroid cancer and its risks.
“No cancer is safe and thyroid cancer is no exception,” he said in an interview. “Thyroid cancer may not be dangerous for the first five to 10 years after diagnosis but it can suddenly become life-threatening as it spreads to other parts of the body.” Many claim that surgery for the cancer should wait until symptoms start to show because it usually doesn’t spread quickly. “But, it certainly becomes too late for treatment by then,” Park said. The controversy stems from the lack of credible treatment guidelines for thyroid cancer, he noted. “For example, thyroid cancer smaller than a centimeter in size is largely considered as incipient and therefore requires no surgery. But there are other important factors to consider, such as the location of the cancer and the patient’s age,” he said. The best way to treat the patient is to surgically remove the tumor as soon as it is found. But surgery isn’t risk-free either and may cause problems with calcium metabolism and the vocal cords; in the case that the thyroid gland has to be removed entirely, the patient has to take thyroid hormone medication for the rest of his or her life.
Thus, all things considered, doctors need to be as precise as possible in determining the best treatment for each patient, Park said. “To better help them, I am working to establish treatment guidelines for thyroid cancer based on comprehensive, objective data,” he said. “This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.” Thyroid cancer affects the thyroid gland, located in the front of the neck. The organ produces hormones that regulate the metabolism. There are four types of thyroid cancer — papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic. Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common type, accounting for 95 percent of all cases in Korea and 70-80 percent of all cases in the world. Little is known about the cancer’s causes. So is the reason for the rapid increase in patients. While Park thinks overtreatment is among the main contributors to the rapid growth in the number of cases, he also believes increased exposure to medical radiation is probably an even bigger contributor. “I believe increased exposure to medical radiation, such as through CT scans, increases the risk of getting thyroid cancer. I’m currently collecting evidence to prove the procedure’s health effects,” he said. “Screening certainly makes sense in some cases, in particular for those with multiple cancer deaths in their family history. However, too much of it can’t be good for anyone’s health and it is especially bad for children.” According to the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency, 23.3 percent of Koreans receive an ultrasonic test to check for thyroid cancer, spending as much as 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion) every year on examinations for the disease alone.
In search of happiness
Born into a poverty-stricken family in 1943, Park felt like life was a battle for survival ever since he was a young boy. However, he was smart and determined, and was always at the top of his class. He thought becoming a doctor was the best way to get himself out of poverty. When he graduated from Yonsei University in 1969, the country was still recovering from the devastating Korean War (1950-53). Few people talked about hope at that time. “Initially, my plan was to go to the United States just like many of my classmates, thinking that there was no hope here,” he said. But then, his medical school professor recognized his talent and asked him to stay. “It meant a lot to me. So I did,” he said. In the 1970s, there were no specialists in the country, so doctors treated patients with all kinds of diseases. “At that time, thyroid diseases were considered as something trivial or additional. But I knew that the thyroid was an important organ that needed to be studied further,” Park said. When he was 39 years old, he decided to study thyroid diseases at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Because he was strapped for money, he could not take his wife and two children with him there. “After the six-month training at the school, I moved to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where I met Prof. Jatin P. Shah, my mentor and my friend,” he said. In the 1980s, the New York City subways were a hotbed of crime and drug use. They were his only option for commuting from his place in Flushing, a village in the northern part of the city. “It was scary,” he recalled. “The New York City subways still remind me of my days as a poor young man who was honest and passionate,” he said. His efforts were well worthwhile. After returning to Korea, his career took off and became a pioneering doctor in the field of thyroid cancer. Since the early 1980s, Park has performed thyroid cancer surgery on more than 20,000 patients, becoming one of the nation’s most prolific thyroid cancer surgeons. He is also one of the best, with only a 0.3 percent rate of postoperative complications. Last year, Park was recognized by the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies for his contribution to the development of the field. “The past few years were the happiest time of my life,” he said. “Perhaps it was what I have always wanted to achieve. I’m happy when my patients are happy so maybe (by helping them), I’m just trying to make myself happy, if you know what I mean.”