Vietnam has more than 1,000 new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed every year (Photo courtesy of the )HCM City (VNA) – More
than 1,000 new cases of are diagnosed in Vietnam every
year, according to HCM City’s Binh Dan Hospital.
Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Phuc Cam Hoang, the
hospital’s deputy director, said that around half of the patients die due
to the disease.
On March 5, a 69-old-year man from the city’s district
3 was brought to the hospital after having had blood in his urine and
intermittent abdominal pains two weeks.
Doctors found he had three tumors in the
bladder. They then decided to use en bloc resection technique to remove the
tumor in one piece as an alternative to traditional techniques to help
reduce the chances of recurrence.
Hoang said the hospital last year admitted 1,873
, many in advanced stages with a high risk of having the
whole bladder removed and severe health problems.
If bladder cancer is diagnosed early when the
tumours are still small, patients can have them instead of their bladder
removed. Their quality of life improves subsequently.
The cancer does not have any specific symptoms
and are the same as infections in the bladder or kidney or kidney stones: blood
in urine, Hoang said.
If patients have blood in their urine and are
treated but do not recover within two months, they should go to specialised
hospitals for examination and treatment, he said. Doctors should then prescribe
tests for bladder cancer, he said.
Patients with bladder cancer are often between
50 and 60. But Hoang said the hospital also admits many people aged 30-40.
Smoking and working in an environment where
workers are exposed to chemicals are the causes of bladder cancer.
Hoang said workers in such environments should
visit health facilities periodically for screening.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
