VietNamNet Bridge – Chemotherapy treatment hasn’t been able to help five-year-old cancer patient Tran Anh Thang at the K Cancer Hospital’s paediatric faculty.

"Doctors said curing my son’s bone-cancer would be very difficult because he was hospitalised too late," said his father, Tran Viet Quyet, said despairingly.

"He had suffered from stomach aches, nausea and a weakness, but we did not think that was unusual. We only took him to hospital when he began to groan and regularly complain about aching bones."

Now, such tragedies are less common in Vietnam because the community’s awareness of cancer has been raised considerably.

"People no longer think cancer is incurable," Doctor Tran Van Cong, chairman of paediatric cancer faculty said.

"The change in thinking is important because in Vietnam, half of all infant cancers are diagnosed too late." Late discovery generally leads to bad or ineffective treatment, even at specialist hospitals.

The cancer rate is still high compared to that in developed countries, where 75% of patients recover or live an additional five years.

Getting the message

Last year, 300 child cancer cases were treated at the faculty, of which 89 were aged six and under. In 2006, 240 cases were reported compared to just a few in 2000.

According to Dr Cong, the reason for the increasing number of children being treated is because of improved awareness by parents – and their improved co-operation with doctors in treating the disease.

"Only seven years ago, many parents took their children home when told they had cancer," Cong said.

Dr Tran Chanh Khuong, head of the Paediatric Tumour Department at HCM City Tumour Hospital, said parents often mistook cancer symptoms for other illnesses. Some still had the misconception that it was an incurable disease, resulting in the high rate of child hospitalisations.

"For those who are hospitalised late, treatment becomes very difficult, fees are higher, and treatment is less efficient," Khuong said. "The more patients are hospitalised early, the more they have an opportunity to recover completely."

The media, social and charity organisations, especially foundations set up by cancer patients or their families, have contributed to better understanding of the disease.

The three most prevalent infant cancers in Vietnam are acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which comprises 40% of all cases, brain tumours and malignant lymphocyte growth.

According to Doctor Bui Ngoc Lan at the National Paediatrics Hospital, success in treating some cancers in Vietnam is now approaching that of developed countries.

"The 74% event-free survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia is close to the world rate of 89%," she said.

"The 75% recovery rate for Hodgkin disease compares well with the world rate of 96%."

Doctor Tran Van Cong emphasised that early diagnosis and correct treatment were responsible for the high recovery rate.

The parents of Nguyen Sinh Cung, aged six, immediately took him to Paediatric Cancer Hospital in Hanoi, 620km from their village after short treatment at Thua Thien-Hue Province’s general hospital proved ineffective.

"Provincial hospital doctors discovered a tumour in his nasal cavity, but the boy was left in a critical condition," said Cung’s mother.

Doctor Pham Viet Huong at the Paediatrics Cancer Faculty said when the boy was admitted, his body was weak and the tumour was still growing. The patient had to be fed through a tube.

Following treatment with modern medicines, he responded well and the tumour temporarily stopped growing. Cung is expected to leave hospital next month.

Mothers affected by radioactive substances or industrial and agricultural chemicals are believed to develop more sudden embryo mutations.

Doctor Tran Van Cong said infant cancers had a tendency to develop in the womb and 20% were hereditary, particularly it was higher much in retinal cancer.

In Vietnam, according to an unofficial investigation, many infant cancer victims come from poor families who have little money for treatment. Cancer treatment fees are among the highest for any disease.

Four days of treatment, plus travelling fees, costs an average of VND4mil per patient. Most people are covered by Government health insurance, however it is generally insufficient.

(Source: Viet Nam News)