Cancer Medicine in Vietnam

Dr. Huynh Quyet Thang

Thirty years ago, there were only two cancer centers in all of Vietnam, a long and narrow country of over 2000 kilometers of seashore: one in the north — in Hanoi — and the other in the south — in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). In the years following the reunification of North and South Vietnam, cancer medicine, as a specialty, has been slow to emerge. Nevertheless, in the last years of the 20th century, other cancer treatment units in some urbanized cities were created — Can Tho included. Dr. Huynh Quyet Thang, chief of the oncology department at Can Tho General Hospital, has been at the forefront of that evolution.

Can Tho is the third largest city in Vietnam, in the heart of the Mekong Delta, in the southwest and about 170 km away from Ho Chi Minh City.

The city is home to a bustling floating market, a large university, and lush groves and gardens. In this beautiful environment, the prevalence of cancer is increasing, as is the need for modern medical facilities, better equipment and qualified medical professionals. In the Mekong Delta, with a population of less than 20 million, Dr. Thang estimates that 20,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed every year.

Dr. Thang began his study of medicine in 1966 and completed postgraduate training in surgical oncology in France in the early 1990s. “Traditionally a great number of parents encourage their children to go into medicine,” Dr. Thang says. “I very much liked medicine; it was during my residency rotations that my affinity for cancer medicine was revealed. The job gives me great satisfaction.”

Dr. Thang works strictly with adult cancer patients. His hospital, which is government-supported but not affiliated with Can Tho University, is the focus of a government initiative to create a new cancer center in Can Tho.

“Vietnam is a developing country climbing the socioeconomic ladder, and the longevity of our citizens is rising,” Dr. Thang remarks. “During the war not many cancer patients were seeking treatment but, with the reunification, health care is becoming more important.”

Vietnam has recently established a national cancer registry, along with a national program of cancer education and control. Cancer prevalence varies from region to region. In the north, lung cancer (in males) and breast cancer (in females) are the most prevalent. In the south, liver cancer (in males) and cervical cancer (in females) are most prevalent. In most rural regions, very few Vietnamese are even aware of cancer.

On some days, it seems to him that every cancer patient in the country is at his hospital. With 43 beds in his department and 70-80 patients at any given time, the hospital halls are lined with cancer patients. His weekly routine incorporates surgical procedures, teaching responsibilities, consultations with young oncologists, and attending classes in medical English. Can Tho General Hospital, which lacks a radiation therapy unit and adequate medical imaging equipment, runs no clinical trials and enjoys no private sponsorship.

Despite these shortcomings, Dr. Thang hopes to develop his hospital’s capacity to enhance the treatment of cancer patients. He maintains good relations with colleagues abroad, particularly those at the French hospital where he was trained. And he says he often “imposes” on the facilities and staff at Ho Chi Minh Hospital for help and support.

Dr. Thang routinely sends young doctors abroad for advanced education in oncology, and said his hospital recently sent ten nurses to Ho Chi Minh City for training. “In two or three years we’ll have a staff that is professionally trained, and, hopefully, a new center for radiotherapy.”

The most important challenge, he says, is funding. He is turning to a French humanitarian NGO for financial assistance, and looks to INCTR for guidance in creating a new cancer center.

“Given proper resources,” he says, “there are many things we could do for our people — participate in national registry program, evaluate cancer in our city to create a strategy for a cancer control program, and send more doctors to be trained in foreign centers.”

Marcia Landskroener for INCTR