Vietnam Reports 22,000 New Lung Cancer Patients Each Year

Around 22,000 new cases of lung cancer are recorded every year in Vietnam, where the disease is ranked among the top causes of death, according to a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City last week. According to figures presented by doctors at the event, around 22,000 Vietnamese people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year, while 19,500 die yearly from the disease. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among Vietnamese males, and the second-most common cause of cancer-related fatalities among females, doctors said. Over 34,000 people, men and women, in Vietnam are forecast to come down with the disease each year by 2020. According to Vu Van Vu, head of the first internal ward at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85%of all cases of lung cancer, with the majority of patients only diagnosed at a late stage when distant metastases have developed. The rate of survival for these patients is extremely low, with less than 5% of NSCLC patients able to survive for five years or more since diagnosis. Over the past ten years, targeted therapy has drastically improved treatment for NSCLC patients in Vietnam compared to traditional chemotherapy, doctors said at the seminar. (vnexpress.net Sep 11, suckhoedoisong.vn Sep 10)