{
  "id": 115638,
  "title": "Vietnam records a cancer death every five minutes, with most cases found too late",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/vietnam-records-a-cancer-death-every-five-minutes-with-most-cases",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-04T04:04:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "VnExpress International",
    "slug": "vnexpress-international",
    "url": "https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-records-a-cancer-death-every-five-minutes-with-most-cases-found-too-late-5104640.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Every five minutes, a cancer-related death occurs in Vietnam, with most cases being discovered too late. According to the GLOBOCAN 2024 dataset, the country recorded 177,404 new cancer cases annually, while 404,153 people were living with a previous cancer diagnosis within the past five years. This represents a 59% increase in incidence and a 35% rise in deaths since 16 years ago, when there were approximately 100,000 new cases. Deaths account for 63% of new diagnoses, which is significantly higher than the 35-40% typical in countries like the U.S., U.K., and Japan, where cancers are detected earlier.\n\nDeputy Director of K Hospital and chief of the Vietnam Cancer Society, Do Anh Tu, emphasized at a July 31 conference on cancer prevention in Ho Chi Minh City that many patients are diagnosed only after tumors have spread. Men accounted for 85,748 new cases but 63,167 deaths, resulting in a mortality-to-incidence ratio of 74%. Among women, the figures were 52% new cases and 52% deaths. Vietnamese men are most often diagnosed with lung, colorectal, and liver cancer, while breast and thyroid cancer are the leading diagnoses for women. Breast cancer has now become the most commonly diagnosed cancer overall, accounting for 25,711 cases, surpassing lung cancer at 23,085.\n\nLung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, responsible for 21,340 fatalities. Vietnam lacks a complete national cancer registry, as data is collected at a limited number of large centers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates mortality by applying modeled ratios to the incidence figures rather than counting deaths directly. Tu has advocated for a nationwide system, arguing that policy cannot be effectively implemented without one. Currently, there are roughly 4.6 medical oncologists and 1.3 radiation oncologists per 1,000 new cancer patients in Vietnam, with pathologists being the most scarce resource. A lung cancer patient may spend around VND170 million (US$6,500) on a year of treatment, with newer drugs either unavailable or only partially reimbursed by insurance.\n\nDeputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance, Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, noted that a lung cancer patient may need to cover VND30-60 million ($1,140-2,280) per month out of their own pocket for newer drugs not included in the insurance list. Approximately VND4.86 trillion ($185 million) was spent on cancer care by the city's insurance fund across 1.19 million treatment visits last year. Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Tri Thuc emphasized that cancer control must be a continuous process, starting from public communication and prevention through screening, treatment, nutrition, and palliative care. He stressed that Vietnam must stop waiting for patients to arrive at the hospital already ill. In September 2025, Politburo Resolution 72 committed the state to providing every citizen with a free health check or screening at least once a year, starting in 2026. Tu pointed out that about 40% of cancers are preventable through controlling known risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, obesity, physical inactivity, and infections with HPV and hepatitis B and C viruses. He proposed a staged screening approach, beginning with cervical and breast cancer, where the evidence for effectiveness is strongest, followed by colorectal and lung cancer. Doctors highlighted that certain cancers, including thyroid, breast, prostate, and colon, have five-year survival rates above 90% when detected early and treated promptly.",
  "summary": "Vietnam recorded 111,015 cancer deaths a year, an average of one roughly every five minutes, according to global estimates published in July by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}