HCM CITY — Doctors at the HCM City University Medical Centre are set to perform laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery using indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence for the first time in Việt Nam, the head of the hospital’s science and training department has said.

Nguyễn Hữu Thịnh said the two surgeries would be performed at the end of this month.

ICG fluorescence imaging will be used with assistance from German doctors.  

The use of ICG fluorescence, a dye, would enhance treatment outcomes of colorectal cancer surgery, Thịnh said.

“The hospital is the first unit in the country to get approval from the Ministry of Health to use ICG in colorectal cancer surgery and treatment of other diseases.

“The incidence of colorectal cancer has increased significantly in the last 10 years.

“Nearly one fourth of colorectal cancer incidence is in advanced stages.”

The HCM City University Medical Centre treats around 500-700 patients with colorectal cancer every year, few of them at early stages.

Young-onset colorectal cancer increasing

The incidence of colorectal cancer and mortality rates have been increasing among younger people in the past few years.

Patients below 50 years accounted for 15 per cent of the total number reported at the hospital every year, Thịnh who is also deputy head of the gastrointestinal surgery department, said.

In the early stages, key symptoms could go unrecognised, he said.

When young adults have symptoms like unexplained persistent rectal bleeding, anaemia and abdominal pain, they should have a thorough check, he said.

While there are no epidemiologic studies on the increasing young-onset colorectal cancer, risk factors such as unsafe food, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and diabetes are increasing.

The start of average-risk screening is generally recommended at 50 years of age, but high-risk individuals should begin earlier, Thịnh said.

In Việt Nam, colorectal cancer is the third most lethal of all cancers. — VNS