VN catches up with world’s advances in cancer treatment

Illustration photo

So far, techniques and equipment for cancer treatment in Viet Nam has been modernized to the world’s advances. 

Director Nguyen Cong Hoang, Deputy Director of the National Radiotherapy Center from the K Hospital was quoted as saying that out of the three key pillars for cancer treatment - radiotherapy, surgery, and medicines-, radiotherapy is the most common treatment as 60-70% of cancer patients are subjected to it. 

This is a highly economical method which is able to terminate cancer tumors. Hence, Vietnamese leading caner treatment centers have constantly purchased modern equipment and deployed new techniques to raise radiotherapy efficiency. 

Specifically, the K Hospital has recently put Gamma Knife Icon which is the most modern generation into operation.

Thanks to the device, Vietnamese cancer patients have a new modern type of treatment for brain tumors without having to travel abroad. 

The HCM City Oncology Hospital installed the Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) system which is a modern radiation therapy approach in which high radiation doses are delivered in few fractions focused on small extracranial tumors with rapid dose fall off outside the target.

Since 2000 when Viet Nam was equipped with the first accelerators, after 19 years, Viet Nam has caught up with the peak of radiation therapy, equivalent to 70-year development of the world, Doctor Hoang said. 

Moreover, Director Pham Van Binh, Director of the Robotic pediatric endoscopic surgery center at K Hospital said that caner surgery advances including robot surgery have become popular in Viet Nam. 

So far, Da Vinci Surgical Systems were installed at the Viet Nam National Hospital of Pediatrics, Binh Dan Hospital, Cho Ray Hospital, and K Hospital. 

The modern equipment not only serves effective surgery but also reduces pains, time of recovery, and raises the living  quality of patients after surgery.

Earlier, the World Health Organization reported that in 2018, Viet Nam records some 151.4 cancer patients for every 100,000 people – putting it in 99th position out of 185 countries with the most cancer patients. The country ranked 19th in Asia and fifth in the Southeast Asian region. Noticeably, the number of newly-founded cancer cases was on the rise. 

In 2000, only 68,000 cancer cases were discovered. In 2018, the number rose to nearly 165,000, including 70% of deaths or 115,000 cases./.

By Kim Anh