Doctors at Chợ Rẫy Hospital treat a breast cancer patient. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

HCM CITY — Breast cancer has surpassed liver cancer to become the most common cancer in Việt Nam, with nearly 25,000 new cases reported a year, experts said at an oncology conference.

According to Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) statistics for 2022, an estimated 180,400 new cancer cases and more than 120,000 deaths from cancer are reported in Việt Nam each year.

Breast cancer accounted for 28.9 per cent of all cancer cases in Vietnamese women or one in three women diagnosed with the disease, said Assoc Prof Dr Huỳnh Quang Khánh, head of the Breast Department under Chợ Rẫy Hospital’s Cancer Centre.

Previously, breast cancer was ranked the most frequent cancer in women and often ranked after liver or lung cancer among both sexes, Khánh said.

An increasing number of breast cancers are being detected at an early stage and breast cancer rates are increasing in younger women, he said at the two-day scientific conference that wrapped up on Friday.

His department has received around 50,000 visits and performed nearly 6,000 surgeries since it was established in 2018.

Surgery remains the mainstay of breast cancer treatment, which is a multimodal treatment, he said.

Breast cancer surgery has advanced significantly, offering less invasive options, improved cosmetic results, and more personalised treatments, he said.

It has become less invasive through minimal access breast surgeries including endoscopic surgery and robotic surgery. Conservative surgery is the general trend worldwide, accounting for 70 per cent of surgeries, he said.

Phạm Thanh Việt, deputy director of Chợ Rẫy Hospital, said cancer incidence is increasing in Việt Nam and throughout the world, with millions of new cases and deaths every year.

Amid the increasing number of cancer patients, the hospital established the Cancer Centre 10 years ago, Việt said.

It has been adopting advanced cancer treatments from around the world. As a result, the centre is currently overloaded with cancer patients, he said.

The two-day oncology conference in HCM City aims to improve knowledge and update scientific research in the field of cancer, he said.

It is also an opportunity for domestic and international experts to meet and exchange expertise in the field to improve the quality of life for cancer patients, he noted. — VNS