At the workshop "Updating advances in thoracic surgery" of Bach Mai Hospital on November 6, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that each year, Vietnam recorded about 26,000 new cases of lung cancer, and worryingly, about 90% of them were directly related to smoking habits. If detected at an early stage, the patient's 5-year survival rate can reach 90%.
"In that context, early detection and treatment of diseases play a key role, helping to significantly improve prognosis and quality of life for patients. Progresses in screening, management, less invasive surgery, and multi-storey treatment have opened up many new opportunities in controlling this disease," emphasized Professor Co.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in Vietnam, according to GLOBOCAN. The main cause includes exogenous and endogenous factors, in which smoking accounts for 90% of cases. Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, with about 70 carcinogens such as benzene, formaldehyde and nitrosamine. In addition, exposure to amiang, asen, radon gas, air pollution, and radiation also increases the risk. Regarding endogenous animals, genetic changes can cause cells to develop abnormally, forming malignant tumors.
Dr. Madalina Grigoroiu, Vice President of the French - Vietnam Lung Association, said that Europe records about 300,000 cases of new lung cancer each year, and one person dies of this disease every 2 minutes.
She emphasized: According to the World Health Organization, the incidence and mortality rate from lung cancer is always the highest, equivalent to the total of breast cancer and colon cancer combined. While these two types of cancer have screening programs, lung cancer is not yet available. It is time for a national program on lung cancer screening.
However, she said that community screening still has many difficulties such as identifying high-risk groups, uneven access to low-dose CT scans, high fake positive rates and lack of personalized support, while a large number of patients can affect the care of other diseases.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Thu Phuong, Director of the Respiratory Center - Bach Mai Hospital, lung note management is a key factor in early detection of lung cancer. Low-dose CT scans are the gold standard for screening, and AI is helping doctors identify high-risk lungot early. She emphasized the need to standardize the lung note management process, establish a specialized group and build a national screening program using low-dose CT to reduce the burden of disease.
