Lung cancer has become the leading killer of cancers in Vietnam with more than 23,000 fresh cases a year, said seminar participants in Vietnam- France cancer seminar yesterday in Hanoi.

Worse, it is very difficult to discover lung cancer even using modern medical equipment.

At the seminar, Deputy Health minister Nguyen Viet Tien said cancer is becoming a burden for all countries in the world.

In 2018, Vietnam has reported 164,671 fresh cancer cases and 114,871 cancer-relating deaths. More than 300,000 are living with cancer nationwide.

Worse, almost Vietnamese people who get cancer are diagnosed late which makes treatment less likely to succeed and reduces their chances of survival.

The deputy health minister stressed the seminar is important because it is a forum where Vietnamese doctors and their French peers can share experience and discus cancer treatment methodologies.

Director of the Cancer Hospital Professor Tran Van Thuan, lung cancer is popular in both male and female in the world. Annually, the world has approximately 2.09 million fresh cases and 1.76 million deaths due to lung cancer.

SGGP