EN
서브비주얼1

Breast Center

Daerim St. Mary's Hospital Breast Center provides high-quality medical services.
Our team has experts who have teaching experience at prestigious university hospitals. We offer best breast examination, test, and surgery services

Introducing the Breast Center of Daerim St. Mary's Hospital

Introducing the Breast Center of
Daerim St. Mary's Hospital
Go to video
DAERIM ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL
Medical Staff Guidance
Go to medical staff

Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer is currently the second largest cancer for females in Korea, and the number is gradually increasing with new patients more than 20,000 a year. It is believed that this pattern is caused by westernized diet, obesity, late marriage, lower birth rates, avoidance of lactation, early menarche and late menopause.

Clinical Breast Examination

At Daerim St. Mary's Hospital, mammogram and a breast ultrasound examination are performed as soon as requested and the results are confirmed on the same day (Principle 0). If a biopsy is considered necessary, it will be performed on the same day as well (Principle 0). Its result will be notified in 7 days (Principle 7). We are doing our best to minimize the waiting time so that our patients should not be anxious about the result.


Mammogram (2D / 3D Mammography)

Mammogram is a basic examination that is common for the patients undergoing a clinical breast examination. For the women aged 40 or older, it is recommended to take mammogram every 1 to 2 years as it is helpful to detect breast cancer at the early stage.
Daerim St. Mary's Hospital has Hologic's ultra-high-definition digital 2D and 3D mammography equipment (Selenia Dimension) so that accurate examinations are available. In particular, 3D mammography can obtain ultra-high quality images while minimizing radiation exposure. It increases the accuracy of the breast cancer diagnosis and lowers the rate of re-examination. By accurately spotting the location of micro-calcification through 3D mammography, a stereotactic-biopsy is available that performs a biopsy without a surgery so unnecessary surgeries can be avoided.

Breast Ultrasound Examination

Breast ultrasound examination is important to check the lesion on the breast, to analyze the lesion from various angles including the shape or the color, and to determine whether to examine the tissue. When performing a biopsy, the needle acts as a guiding device to obtain the exact location of the abnormal tissue.
At Breast Cancer Center of Daerim St. Mary's Hospital, a radiology specialist conducts a breast ultrasound examination, who specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. We have 8 ultrasound equipment including Philips IU-22 with the best specifications. Depending on the patient’s preference, one or more of various equipment can be applied.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an examination necessary to diagnose the stage of breast cancer or metastases to lymph nodes in the armpit. Patients are not exposed to radiation, and one breast can be compared to the other one. The image is very clear, so the efficiency goes beyond the limitations of conventional simple mammogram or ultrasound. Daerim St. Mary's Hospital has Philips' Ingenia CX 3.0T MRI equipment. With the 3.0T high-end MRI equipment, examination time is saved. Thanks to the high-quality images, even microscopic lesions can be identified with.

Breast Cancer Biopsy

If cancer is suspected, a biopsy is required to confirm the diagnosis. Among the various methods of biopsy, the most commonly used one is a “core needle biopsy”, in which a doctor collects a sample of tissue by using a needle. When a needle with a hollow core comes out of the cell quickly, a thin piece of tissue to be examined is removed so that a sample can be obtained.

Stereotactic Biopsy

Stereotactic biopsy is a biopsy procedure which uses a 3D mammography to localize a target lesion in three dimensions on the X, Y, and Z axes so that the sample can be analyzed accurately. In the past, the patient had to go through a surgical biopsy but now Stereotactic Biopsy helps make it easy to analyze a large portion of micro-calcified lesions without a surgery.

Vacuum Assisted Breast Biopsy (VABB)

A vacuum-assisted breast biopsy is a biopsy procedure in which a sample of tissue is obtained using a core needle. A thicker needle is applied to obtain a sufficient specimen. In this procedure, the blade at the tip of the needle automatically moves back and forth to obtain the sample tissue. Meanwhile, negative pressure is applied with a vacuum to pull the tissue toward the needle so that the tissue can be obtained easily when the blade rotates. It is advantage that the accuracy of diagnoses is much higher since more tissue can be obtained and there is no need to prick the breast with a needle multiple times.

Treatments of Breast Cancer

  • Surgical Treatment: Surgery to remove both breasts, Surgery to preserve breasts, Sentinel node biopsy, Total axilla lymph node dissection
  • Medical Chemotherapy: Breast cancer cells travel through the blood from the very beginning. To prevent breast cancer from recurring, chemotherapy can be very helpful. As not all patients need chemotherapy, you should counsel the treatment with a breast cancer specialist. In some cases, either anticancer drugs or hormone therapy drugs can be prescribed.
  • Endocrine Treatment: Tamoxifen, Aromatase inhibitor, Goserelin
  • Radiotherapy: It is necessary for the patients who went through breast conservation surgery or radical mastectomy.
  • Targeted Therapy: Targeted therapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs which act on specific cancer cells, suppress recurrence and treat cancer with almost no side effects.
  • Rehabilitation after Surgery: After mastectomy, proper rehab is required to prevent movement disorders on the arm operated and to help recover quickly. The timing and method of rehab may differ depending on the individual, but it is usually recommended after the drainage tube is removed which was inserted during surgery.
  • Breast Reconstruction: After a mastectomy, breast reconstruction surgery helps restore the look of the breast. With the recent increase in breast cancer in Koera, breast reconstruction is also steadily being increased.


The Breast Center is led by Director Sung-Won Kim, Korea’s top hereditary breast cancer expert.
Director Kim has served as a professor of breast surgery at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.
He is currently leading the Korea Hereditary Breast Cancer Study and certified for clinical genetics by the Korean Society of Medical Genetics.

Breast Center

  • Tel : +82-2-829-8355
  • Kakaotalk Yellow ID : 대림성모병원 행복한 유방센터
  • iBreast Blog of the Center : blog.naver.com/ibreast