Incidence of cancer on the rise
HCM CITY (VNS)— Pham Thanh Hoang (not his real name) was suffering from pain while chewing and swallowing, and took anti-inflammatory drugs for two months, not thinking for a moment he may have cancer.
But that was just what the 52-year-old man was diagnosed with recently — tongue cancer.
He had hemiglossectomy and subsequent reconstructive surgery at the HCM City Oncology Hospital.
The HCM City Cancer Association said the incidence of tongue cancer is three in 100,000 people, and higher in men than women due to drinking and smoking.
Le Hoang Minh, the cancer hospital director, said every year around 150-200 come with tongue cancer, but mostly in late stages.
According to statistics released by the hospital, in fact, almost two-thirds of tongue cancer patients are treated in the III and IV stages.
It is well established that diagnosing and treating cancer in the early stages dramatically increases the chance of saving the patient.
In HCM City, the problem of late diagnosis is not just with tongue cancer.
Minh said the hospital receives an average of 1,500 cancer patients every day, and the number is increasing by 5-7 per cent every year.
And Hoang is just one of thousands of patients who are treated only after their cancer reaches an advanced stage.
A survey by Ha Noi-based K Hospital between October 2011 and April 2012 of 400 cancer patients showed that 79 per cent of them were diagnosed and received treatment only in the III and IV stages.
Twenty one per cent sought treatment only six months after the signs and symptoms of cancer had appeared.
Experts blame this on the lack of information and understanding about cancers.
Thirty per cent of the survey respondents said they had not heard about cancer, and 61 per cent had not known about surgery in cancer treatment.
"Cancer is now the biggest killer and the number of new cancer patients is on the rise year after year," Nguyen Chan Hung, chairman of the Viet Nam Oncology Association, said.
The country has six oncology hospitals and oncology departments at 35 hospitals, far short of the required number.
Many cancer patients have to seek treatment abroad in countries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the US, and mainland China.
The latest figures from the Viet Nam Cancer Association show that 150,000 new cases of cancer are reported in the country every year and 75,000 die of the disease.
Almost 250,000 patients are currently undergoing treatment.
Kidney recipients at high risk of cancer
A study by a group of doctors at Cho Ray Hospital and the University Medicine in HCM City found that kidney transplant recipients face a high risk of cancer.
They studied more than 550 transplant patients between December 1992 and May 2012.
Of them 17 developed cancer after the transplant, with 11 dying.
Most of them developed urological, uterine, breast, tongue, and stomach cancers.
To prevent rejection, kidney transplant patients have to be given immuno-suppressive drugs that increase the risk of cancer, the doctors explained. — VNS