South Korea's Ministry of Health to Establish National Cancer-AI Data Center with 460 Billion Won Investment Over 5 Years

The National Cancer Data Center within the National Cancer Center will be expanded into a national cancer-AI data center to support AI development and validation for cancer-specific applications. This hub aims to provide precision medicine and drug development support by integrating cancer data across diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis tracking. The Ministry of Health has proposed a 460 billion won investment from 2027, with initial funding potentially reaching 160 billion won in 2024. While budget specifics may adjust through legislative approval processes, the center already houses 5 million cancer patient records, next-generation sequencing data for 80,000 cases, and survival/death statistics linked to the Statistics Bureau. However, challenges remain in leveraging this data for AI development due to strict data security requirements and infrastructure limitations.