Dr Võ Duy Long, deputy head of the GI surgical department at the HCM City University Medical Centre, speaks at the 9th Asia Pacific Gastric Cancer Congress that opened in Đà Nẵng City on March 24. Photo courtesy of the hospital

HCM CITY — More than 500 gastroenterologists, oncologists, surgeons, and scientists from 17 countries have met at the 9th Asia Pacific Gastric Cancer Congress in Đà Nẵng City.

At the “Gastric cancer management: from resolution to revolution” conference that ended on March 25 some 170 scientific reports were tabled by medical professionals.

It was the first time that Việt Nam hosted the biennial regional meeting of gastric cancer researchers and surgeons.

This year’s programme comprised plenary lectures and symposiums on recent innovations and research and screened operative/endoscopy videos of gastric cancer.

The agenda included the diagnosis and treatment of early gastric cancer with wide application of image-enhanced endoscopy and artificial intelligence.

Multidisciplinary approaches, including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and surgery for treatment of advanced gastric cancer were also discussed.

Doctors said recent research in the field of gastric microbiome and molecular biology enabled a new era of personalised treatment of gastric cancer.

At the pre-congress on March 23, Dr. Võ Duy Long, deputy head of the GI surgical department at the HCM City University Medical Centre and Prof. Souya Nunobe of the Cancer Institute Hospital belonging to the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research successfully conducted laparoscopic distal gastrectomy, laparoscopic total gastrectomy, and laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy with double-flap reconstruction procedures on three patients.

They were done as live demonstration as part of the scientific programme. —VNS