Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Vietnam.

Global cancer data 2020 recorded that each year more than 122,000 Vietnamese people die from cancer, 18 times higher than the number of deaths from traffic accidents and second only to cardiovascular disease.

The information was announced by Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Van Binh, Deputy Director of K Hospital, at the first National Cancer Nursing Conference on May 26. "Previously, in Vietnam, cancer deaths ranked third after cardiovascular and infectious diseases, now surpassing second place, showing that the burden of this disease is extremely large," Associate Professor Binh said.

Cancer incidence and mortality rates are also on the rise in most countries, especially developing countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) records nearly 20 million new cancer cases and more than 10 million deaths from the disease each year, two-thirds of which are in developing countries.

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said that about 354,000 Vietnamese people are living with cancer, and the trend is increasing. On average, out of every 100,000 people, 159 are newly diagnosed with cancer and 106 die. The 10 most common types of cancer are liver, lung, breast, stomach, colon, rectum, leukemia, prostate, nasopharynx and thyroid.

The cancer model in Vietnam is also different from other countries. The three common cancers in Vietnamese people are lung, liver, and stomach, all of which have very poor prognosis and high mortality rates. Patients are diagnosed at a late stage, doctors cannot intervene, and can only provide palliative treatment. "This is the reason why the cancer mortality rate in Vietnam is high," said Associate Professor Le Van Quang, Director of K Hospital.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the incidence of breast and prostate cancer is highest, while in Korea, stomach, thyroid and colon cancer are common. These cancers have a good prognosis and high survival rate, with thyroid cancer being almost completely curable.

Doctors at K Hospital remove a rectal tumor from a patient. Photo: Le Nga. — Doctors at K Hospital perform laparoscopic surgery to remove a rectal tumor from a patient. Photo: *Le Nga*

There are three reasons for the high incidence and mortality rates of cancer, according to experts. Among them, increased life expectancy and population aging are among them, the older you are, the higher the incidence of cancer.

Changing living environment, air and water pollution, human lifestyle such as alcohol abuse, electronic cigarettes, irregular eating and living habits are also causes of the disease.

Nowadays, medicine is developed, there are many means of diagnosing and detecting cancer early, so many people are diagnosed with the disease.

However, despite advances in early detection, diagnosis, and treatment, many patients still detect the disease at a late stage, leading to a high mortality rate. Meanwhile, the main factor affecting the cancer cure rate is early or late detection. The ability to survive also depends on the stage of the disease, the response to treatment, and the combination of treatment methods, according to Deputy Minister Thuan.

Cancer treatment must combine many methods such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. In which, immunotherapy is a therapy that doctors evaluate as "very promising for the future", patients are optimized with results approaching international standards.

The 2020 GLOBOCAN Global Cancer Database records more than 200 types of cancer, but the exact cause of the disease is still unknown. Scientists have found many risk factors, such as hepatitis B leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer; HPV virus increases the risk of cervical cancer; HP bacteria causes stomach cancer, but the question of "why cancer" is still being researched.

Le Nga

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