Health officials, experts and celebrities kick off the annual breast cancer screening programme and awareness campaign at K Hospital in Tân Triều Branch, Hà Nội's Thanh Trì District on Sunday. — Photo courtesy of the Health Ministry

HÀ NỘI — More and more breast cancer cases in Việt Nam in the last few decades have been found among young women, many of whom still think they are safe from the disease due to their age, doctors said during a recent conference.

At a conference hosted by Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper on Sunday, Head of the Department of Breast, Endocrine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology at HCM City Oncology Hospital Trần Nguyên Hà said that Việt Nam recorded about 15,000 new breast cancer cases every year, fewer than other Asian countries.

In developed countries, people with breast cancer were usually over 50, while in Việt Nam, the age was about 45, Hà said, adding that in some cases, the disease was detected too late.

“Women over 40 should have a breast cancer screening once a year,” Hà said.

Besides age, people whose relatives had breast cancer or other types of cancers are urged to get regular screenings. Those who have previously had breast cancer are also at higher risk.

Women who are obese, have early periods, late menopause or are postmenopausal using long-term hormonal replacement measures should pay attention to screening.

Hà said there were few differences between malignant and benign tumours and currently, a treatment method could target the differences and work effectively.

Doctor Huỳnh Quang Khánh from the Oncology Centre at Chợ Rẫy Hospital said that when finding unusual lumps or bumps in their breast, women should go to a health facility for testing.

Thanks to improvements in cancer screening, diagnosis, early detection as well as advanced methods, treatment for breast cancer patients is often successful, according to Khánh.

Deputy Health Minister Trần Văn Thuấn said at the launching ceremony of an action month against breast cancer that the disease was the most common cancer found in women and had become a burden for many countries including Việt Nam.

In Việt Nam, nearly 164,700 new cancer cases were detected yearly, of which, there were 15,229 breast cancer cases, accounting for nearly 21 per cent of cancers in women.

Notably, in the last few decades, more Vietnamese women at younger ages had breast cancer, Thuấn said.

“Breast cancer is treatable if detected early,” Thuấn said, emphasising the importance of early detection which can help increase the effectiveness of treatment and reduce medical costs.

“However, because of shyness, many women are hesitating to take early screening,” he said, adding that in many cases, patients went to hospital for treatment too late. Diagnosis is often very late with a small portion of patients accessing the best medicines for their diagnosis, resulting in over a third of Việt Nam’s breast cancer patients dying of the disease. — VNS