Russian cancer drugs have similar treatment effectiveness but are much cheaper than comparable drugs. K Hospital, a leader in cancer treatment, is planning to purchase drugs from Russia to soon include them in treatment protocols, said Professor Dr Le Van Quang, Director of K Hospital (Hanoi), at a seminar on cancer treatment held on December 18–19.

According to Quang, in recent years cancer diagnosis and treatment has seen strong development, in which cancer drugs play a key role. Previously, older-generation drugs, especially chemotherapy, caused many side effects because they not only destroyed cancer cells but also affected healthy cells, leaving patients exhausted during treatment.

Today, new-generation cancer drugs have significantly improved both effectiveness and safety, especially targeted therapies.

Targeted drugs have now developed to the third generation, acting directly on gene mutations of cancer cells. This helps significantly reduce side effects and shorten treatment duration, with no need to have prolonged infusions like chemotherapy. According to statistics from about two years ago, targeted therapy helped extend progression-free survival for patients up to 36.8 months.

In addition, Quang said immunotherapy is becoming increasingly diverse with many different drugs. Previously, most immunotherapy drugs were monopolized and extremely expensive. Now, many new biosimilar drugs have emerged, with lower prices while still ensuring treatment effectiveness.

However, selecting and combining drugs requires careful consideration by doctors. If treatment regimens are not appropriately designed, patients may incur high costs with limited therapeutic benefit.

Among the new drugs, Quang highlighted Pembroria from Russia, a biosimilar to immunotherapy drugs widely used in Western countries.

This drug has comparable effectiveness but a much lower price, opening up treatment opportunities for many cancer patients. Currently, the price of this drug is about VND18 million per vial, while Keytruda costs around VND60 million per vial.

Pembroria has already been imported into Vietnam, and K Hospital is planning a procurement tender so that patients can access it more widely in the near future.

Patients no longer have to wait for radiotherapy

Beyond drugs, radiation physics has also made significant progress. Previously, cobalt radiotherapy machines could affect the environment and cause unwanted impacts on healthy tissues surrounding tumors. Today, modern linear accelerator radiotherapy systems help minimize side effects while improving precision and safety for patients.

However, according to Quang, Vietnam still does not have an official training major for radiotherapy and medical physics. Most hospitals have had to build their own programs and conduct in-house training across generations. Therefore, in-depth scientific conferences like this one play an important role in improving the capacity of radiotherapy technicians to meet the development needs of the specialty.

In the coming period, K Hospital will coordinate with Hanoi Medical University and the Department of Training to open an official training program for radiotherapy technicians. In 2025 the hospital plans to buy four additional state-of-the-art radiotherapy machines for all three campuses. This will increase the total number of operating radiotherapy machines and help improve treatment quality.

Thanks to investment in equipment and human resources, waiting times for radiotherapy have been significantly reduced. Previously, staff had to work in shifts and machines operated almost continuously every day, with patients sometimes receiving radiotherapy late at night. Now, machines have more reasonable downtime, and patients no longer need late-night treatments.

On average, K Hospital provides radiotherapy for about 1,000 patients per day, better meeting the rapidly growing demand for cancer treatment.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam (Ministry of Health) has confirmed that the licensing of the cancer drug Pembroria fully complied with regulations. The drug has completed clinical trials and was approved by a scientific council. It has been granted approval for wide circulation in Vietnam, not just approval solely for clinical trials.

The issuance of a marketing authorization means that Pembroria is permitted to be imported, distributed, and widely used like other medicines, and it does not fall into any special or restricted drug category.

Pembroria is a biosimilar drug, essentially a “copy” of Keytruda developed by MSD (US). Both contain the active ingredient pembrolizumab, a monoclonal antibody that helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. Keytruda was first approved in US in 2014 and is currently one of the most widely used immunotherapies in cancer treatment worldwide.

A representative of the Drug Administration of Vietnam explained that although the drug has met safety and quality standards for circulation, the manufacturer will continue to monitor and evaluate its immunogenicity in Vietnamese patients. This is a mandatory requirement for biosimilar products, as immunogenicity may trigger immune responses in users.

Vo Thu