Why is cancer increasing in Vietnam?

Cancer data in Vietnam as well as the world is surveyed and recorded annually by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Globocan), published sequentially. The latest data is Globocan 2022 published in 2023. There is no 2023 cancer data in 2024.

According to this data, in 2000, Vietnam recorded more than 68,000 new cancer cases. The number of cases increased gradually each year, reaching over 182,000 cases in 2022, a 2.6-fold increase in 22 years.

Globocan 2022 also recorded that this year, more than 122,000 people in Vietnam died from cancer, making it one of the countries with the highest cancer mortality rates in the world while the new incidence rate is at an average level. The new incidence rate in Vietnam ranks 91st out of 185 countries, but the mortality rate ranks 50th and is increasing on the global rankings. The reason is that many people discover the disease at a late stage and die.

The top 5 cancers are breast, liver, lung, stomach and colorectal. Except for breast cancer which can be detected early with a cure rate of over 90%, the remaining 4 cancers are very dangerous, with high mortality rates, especially liver and lung cancer. This is the difference in cancer types in Vietnam compared to Europe (where skin cancer is the majority and less dangerous).

Previously in Vietnam, uterine cancer was the most common, followed by liver, lung, breast, and stomach cancer. By gender, in men, liver cancer led in the number of new cases, followed by lung, stomach, colorectal, and prostate cancer. In women, the five types with the highest incidence were breast, lung, colorectal, stomach, and liver cancer.

"The above data shows that the cancer model in Vietnam has changed compared to 20 years ago," said Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chan Hung, former president of the Vietnam Cancer Association.

To make this assessment, Mr. Hung assessed that the increase in cancer cases is due to many factors such as population aging, increased life expectancy, changes in living environment, air and water pollution. The older the age, the more time of accumulation and exposure to risk factors, the higher the rate of disease.

Habits such as alcohol, tobacco, irregular eating and living habits are factors that cause cancer. For example, a diet low in fruits and vegetables and high in protein and fat increases the risk of colorectal cancer and many other cancers. Consuming a lot of pickles containing nitrates and nitrites can easily cause esophageal and stomach cancer. Eating moldy foods containing aflatoxin causes liver cancer.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Lam Trung Hieu, Head of the Palliative Care Department, Institute of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Military Hospital 175, added that another reason is that medicine is increasingly developing, with many means of diagnosing and detecting cancer early. People have access to cancer screening, so many people are diagnosed with the disease. Not to mention, thanks to increasingly advanced treatment methods, patients have an increased life expectancy, and the number of cancer re-examinations has increased.

"The increase in the number of visits does not mean the number of new patients has increased, but also includes the number of old patients who have survived many years after treatment and maintained regular check-ups," Dr. Hieu clarified.

The above causes have affected the changes of many cancers that have been common in Vietnam for many years. For example, cervical cancer, which used to be the leading cancer, is now down to 11th in the number of new cases. This is thanks to more and more women taking the initiative to get screened, detected and treated from the pre-cancerous stage, preventing it from progressing to cancer. In addition, many people have been vaccinated against cervical cancer in recent years, contributing to reducing the rate of the disease.

Since 2018, the number of people with liver cancer has surpassed lung cancer, ranking first in both new cases and mortality rates in Vietnam. These are two types with poor prognosis and low survival time, which is also the reason why the cancer mortality rate in our country is among the highest in the world.

Vietnam is also in the group of countries with the highest rate of liver cancer. Professor Hung explained that the number of liver cancer cases in men is higher than in women because men consume more alcohol and tobacco. Both sexes have many people infected with hepatitis virus, but men have "many bad habits" so they are more likely to develop liver cancer than women.

In women, breast cancer remains high, even increasing slightly because more and more women are not married, do not have children, have few children, do not breastfeed - risk factors for breast cancer. In addition, affluent lifestyle leading to overweight, obesity, and lack of exercise also increases the risk. The good news is that methods of diagnosing and treating breast cancer are increasingly advanced, helping to detect the disease early and cure it.

In early stage cancer, patients can have breast-conserving surgery, or mastectomy will easily create a new breast. There are more and more effective drugs to treat the disease, such as chemotherapy, endocrine drugs, targeted therapies... These conditions help breast cancer now have the highest cure rate among all types of cancer.

In the context of increasing cases, many Vietnamese hospitals have organized cancer departments to treat patients. Hospitals organize training, transfer techniques, and build cancer prevention networks with other hospitals and localities to narrow the gap in access to diagnostic services and treatment quality. Thanks to that, frontline hospitals are less overloaded, and people can enjoy high-quality medical services right at their localities.

Recent studies have shown that some cancers can be detected early and have good treatment results thanks to medical advances. On the other hand, health insurance also plays an important role in developing diagnostic and treatment techniques and caring for cancer patients.

Doctors recommend that people raise awareness of prevention by living a healthy lifestyle, eating a balanced diet, limiting processed foods, quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, exercising regularly... Get vaccinated. Have annual health check-ups and go to the doctor immediately if there are any unusual signs. Take the initiative to screen for cancer early according to recommendations for age groups and risk groups.

"Participate in health insurance because this is a lifesaver if you are unlucky enough to get sick, especially cancer," Professor Hung advised, adding that cancer treatment is a long-term, personalized process, so the cost is often very high.