45% of cancers are women

Professor Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital, said that, like men, the most common cancers for women are colorectal, lung, stomach and liver. Annually, cancer in women accounts for 45% (75,000 / 165,000 cases) of total cancer cases in Vietnam.

However, the most common and gender related cancers are breast and gynecological cancers including cervical, ovarian, vaginal, and vulvar cancers.

In particular, breast and gynecological cancers account for over 1/3 (34%) of the cases of cancer in women. Breast cancer alone has more than 15,000 cases, making Vietnam rank 146/185 countries and territories (WHO data 2018).

According to worldwide statistics, the older the age, the greater the risk of getting breast cancer. Less than 10% of breast cancer occurs before age 40, 25% occur before age 50 and over 50% occur after age 50.

In Vietnam, people with this disease are tending to rejuvenate. There are very rare cases of breast cancer under the age of 20 in the world, but in Vietnam many cases are only 18-22 years old.

However, compared to many other types of cancer, the prognosis for treatment in breast cancer is quite good. Professor Thuan said that breast cancer can be completely cured. In particular, screening and early detection of breast cancer is extremely important. The sooner it is discovered, the simpler the treatment will be, the more effective the treatment will be, the lower the cost of treatment, and the higher survival rate. Evidently, many breast cancer patients are married, have healthy children, and live for decades.

If detected in stage 0-1, the cure rate for breast cancer is up to 100%; in stage 2, up to 93% of patients live healthy over 5 years; in stage 3 the rate down to 72% and in stage 4, there is only 22%.

Happily, both breast and cervical cancer now have screening and early detection programs.

Professor Tran Van Thuan

Early signs of cancer detection

Professor Thuan said most cancer patients do not notice the cancer symptoms, or may ignore them, saying they are less serious.

But when the symptoms below last more than 2 weeks, they can be a sign of breast or gynecological cancer and women need to visit reputable medical facilities for examination, counseling and diagnosis.

Pain or redness of the breast, receding nipples, skin of the breast area with protrusions, abnormal contraction.

- Nipple discharge, changes in color on the skin of the breast, one breast is thicker than the other.

- There are axillary ganglia

- Irregular menstrual cycle, change in urination habits.

- Unusual bleeding or vaginal discharge.

- Pain or bleeding after sex, pelvic pain.

For early detection of breast cancer, women should self-examine their breasts about 5 days after menstruation. Create a routine health checkup, screen for cancer when you turn 40, instead of 45 as before.

VNF